Fire Emblem Rekka No Ken: A Story Retold
by GameFreakimage
Summary: Follow the story of Lyn, the Tactician, Eliwood and Hector as they uncover the secrets behind an evil organization: The Black Fang. Will the four of them be able to overcome their trials and emerge victorious and make their world a safer place? LynXTactician
1. Prologue: A Girl from the Plains

Prologue: A Girl from the Plains

**Author's Notes: **How this series will go is that all in-game dialogue will be used for a majority of the story. The only times dialogue for a character will not be from the game is if it is a filler chapter or that I think this is how a character would react to a given situation. As such, if a character ignores the Tactician, it is because of in-game dialogue not bothering to put in a opinion for a character and I want to keep as close to the source material as possible.

Fight scenes will also be detailed as how they can/will develop in-game. So if there are ten enemies for a single fight, there will be ten enemies in the chapter. Expect the Tactician to question this, especially when going against armies.

I DO NOT own Fire Emblem...even though I would love too.

Other than that, please enjoy reading and tell me how I can improve for future chapters. Thanks!

"Are you awake?"

Those were the first words to reach the young man's ears as he awoke from his slumber. As he carefully pulled himself up from the bedroll he had found himself in, his eyes immediately fell upon the spot where the voice had come from.

A girl, roughly sixteen years of age with a clay mug and bowl in hand met his gaze. She had thigh-long dark green hair maintained in a single ponytail, vibrant blue eyes, and a charming smile that excluded a feeling of peace and serenity. The dress she was wearing was a light blue, with yellow lining and was wrapped around her figure with a red sash. There were slits through both sides of the dress that allowed her legs to go by unhindered.

"I found you unconscious on the plains," the girl told him as he got up. "I am Lyn, of the Lorca tribe. You're safe now. Who are you? Can you remember your name?"

The young remained silent for a moment as he pulled his mind together. "Michael is my name" he told her.

"Your name is Michael?" Lyn said, "What an odd-sounding name…"

"Excuse me?" Michael asked, taken aback by the unintentional insult.

"But pay me no mind," Lyn responded, "It is a good name. I see by your attire that you are a traveler. What brings you to the Sacae Plains? Would you share your story with me?" Lyn asked, attempting to change the subject.

"Well-" Michael was about to explain, but he was quickly cut off by some yells from the outside.

"Hm?" Lyn said as she looked towards the closed entrance to her tent, "What was that noise?"

"It sounded like a yell to me" Michael told her.

"I'll go see what's happening," Lyn told Michael as she turned back to his direction. "Michael, wait here for me."

As soon as she was done speaking, Lyn quickly left the tent for but a moment before returning. She had a worried look in her eyes.

"Oh, no!" Lyn cried, "Bandits! They must have come down from the Bern Mountains! They must be planning on raiding the local villages. I…I have to stop them!" Lyn decided, her voice solidifying as she made her decision.

"If that's all of them, I think I can handle them on my own" Lyn said, more to herself than to Michael. "You'll be safe in here, Michael."

"No!" This time it was Michael's turn to shout. "I won't let you go on your own. Let me help you!"

"What?" Lyn asked, surprised by the prospect, "You want to help? Well, can you use a weapon?"

"Ah…no," Michael admitted. "I'm a strategist you see. I tell other people how to kill someone. When it comes to me doing it…well…it's easier giving orders than doing them." Michael gave himself a mental slap to himself with how he had chosen to word that explanation.

"Ah, I see… So you're a strategist by trade?" Lyn asked, though only to confirm it to herself, luckily not paying attention to whatever else Michael had said. "An odd profession, but…Very well. We'll go together!" Lyn decided. In a flash, Lyn ran over to the side of her tent and pulled out an iron sword.

As quickly as she grabbed the sword, Lyn ran outside, leaving Michael in the dust as he attempted to follow her out. As he ran outside after her, Lyn ducked under a nearby tree. "Over here!" she whispered to him.

As quickly as he could, Michael did the same.

"If you want to help, Michael," Lyn told him, "I could use your advice. I'll protect you, so stay close to me."

"You don't have to tell me twice" Michael assured her as he scanned the area.

In the small area of the plains, two bandits were raiding a small cluster of tents a few yards away. Aside from the tress where Lyn and Michael were hidden, everything else was flat and easy to see for quite some distance.

"Pretty small number of bandits for a raid…" Michael muttered to himself. "Alright, here's the plan." Michael spoke to Lyn as he ducked back down under the trees," One of the bandits is busy trying to raid the village. There's one other keeping watch. Go out and get his attention-but don't go too far in. He could call his friend for aid. We don't want you going two against one unless absolutely necessary."

Lyn nodded in agreement as she ran out into the open. Almost half-way through the stretch between Lyn and the one bandit keeping watch, she was spotted.

"Uh-oh!" Michael heard Lyn shout, "That bandit's spotted me! He's coming this way!" she warned.

The bandit quickly closed the gap between himself and Lyn, but Lyn was the faster of the two. As he was about to turn on her and attack with his axe, Lyn gracefully dove to the side and avoided his strike.

As he was busy removing his axe from the soil he had firmly slammed it into, Lyn quickly gave the bandit two gashes with her sword before he could react. The bandit quickly found himself recoiling from the sudden pain and blood loss.

'He's a goner…' Michael thought to himself.

In the frenzy the bandit found himself, he wildly flailed his axe, gaining a lucky strike on Lyn, who let out a cry of pain as she hit the ground. But just as quickly as she hit the ground, she bounced right off and delivered the finishing blow to the bandit, who collapsed in a bloody heap.

"Victory!" Lyn cried out in joy. "But I've been injured."

"Are you ok?!" Michael asked, worried over the blow she had just received.

"I have need of a vulnerary."

Vulnerary. A miracle medicine that instantly restored lesser wounds and cuts in an instant. In a mild panic Michael felt his pockets hoping to find a bottle. He cursed under his breath when his efforts were found fruitless.

"If it isn't serious, try to make your way over to the other bandit!" Michael shouted. "He should be dealt with before he does any damage to the hut!"

"Not a hut, a ger!" Lyn responded.

"…What?"

"You don't know what a ger is? It's a type of round hut. Many nomads live in huts like these."

"So it's a hut!" Michael cried in exasperation from Lyn using valuable time on such a useless lesson.

"I would do well to use this time to administer a little first aid," Lyn muttered to herself, ignoring Michael's annoyed outburst.

As Lyn made her way over to the ger, she put her hand into a pouch conveniently attached to her dress and pulled out a vulnerary and took a drink.

"You had one the whole time?!" Michael cried out once again.

Again, he was ignored. Lyn's wounds healed before he was even done yelling.

"Now let's go get that brigand over by the ger!" Lyn yelled out once again to Michael.

"You'd think he would have heard us by now…" Michael muttered to himself as Lyn closed the distance between herself and the ger.

As Lyn made her way over, she luckily caught the bandit by surprise, but unfortunately, not soon enough for her to begin an attack.

"Who do you think you are?" the bandit asked Lyn as she brandished her sword. "You think you can stand up to Batta the Beast?"

"Oh boy, he's trying to be intimidating," Michael laughed. "I give him two attacks from Lyn before he bites it."

Wielding her sword with lovely grace, Lyn quickly unleashed the first attack upon the bandit, cutting his chest and drawing out fresh, crimson blood.

With a roar of pain, the bandit returned her attack in kind with his own. Lyn screamed in pain as her dress was torn into and blood oozed out from right arm and her chest. Lyn quickly attacked him once again, but the pain from his attack greatly weakened her strike.

"He's tough…" Lyn said under her breath. "It all comes down to this next blow."

"Please, Lyn," Michael begged to himself, his hands burying into the bark of the tree, "Don't die. Please, no."

"Michael," Lyn cried out in hopes that he heard, "If I fall, I want you to flee. You must escape!"

"Lyn, don't say that!" Michael cried at the top of his lungs. "I want you to live! Don't you dare die on me!"

Michael hoped those words reached her, because the bandit had moved in for the killing blow.

The bandit leaped into the air, bringing his axe right down onto Lyn's head. But Lyn was able to doge the blow with nary a scratch. Capitalizing on the opening the bandit had made for himself, Lyn once again slashed at his chest, this time causing the bandit to step back from the pain of the hit. Summoning the last of her strength within her, Lyn took a stance that Michael could not recognize.

Slow but fast at the same time, Lyn disappeared, as if she was never there to begin with, only for the sound of a sword slicing through flesh to ring throughout the plains. As quickly as she had disappeared, Lyn returned, returning her sword to its sheath. With a look of confusion, the bandit stepped forward, only for all the deep cuts Lyn had just dealt him to spray blood at once.

"What?" the bandit uttered in shock, "How…how did you-" and then he fell over dead.

"Whew!" Lyn let out a sigh of relief. "That was close. I sorely underestimated him."

"Lyn!" Michael yelled as he ran for all that he was worth to her, "Are you ok?!" Michael's breath was haggard from his running.

Taking a generous drink from her vulnerary, Lyn wounds began to close once again. She gave a nod to Michael in order to appease any thoughts he had for her safety.

"Sorry if I worried you" she told him.

"Why are you apologizing?" Michael asked her.

"I'll need to be stronger if I'm going to survive…"Lyn said to herself. "Strong enough that no one can defeat me."

"Lyn?" Michael asked carefully.

In an instant, Lyn broke free from her reverie and turned her attention back towards Michael. "Good work, Michael! Let's go home."

Leaving him behind, Lyn ran back towards her tent, her ripped dress barely holding together as she ran.

"What was that about…?" Michael asked himself as her walked back after her, hoping by the time he was back she would have changed into some new clothes.

And so the day ended on a softer note compared to when it began.

No sooner the next morning as the birds were beginning to chirp, was Michael finding himself being awoken once again by Lyn.

"Good morning, Michael!" she greeted cheerfully. "Are you awake yet?"

"I am now…" Michael muttered groggily as he rose from his bedroll.

"That fight yesterday must have taken a lot out of you" Lyn guessed. "The sun's already half way up in the sky!"

Squinting his eyes, Michael peeked outside to see that the sun was in fact, only partway up in the sky. Early mornings were defiantly **not** his friends.

"Hey, Michael," Lyn said to get his attention, "I want to talk to you about something. You have some experience in the ways of war, I can see. Would you allow me to travel with you?"

A brief moment went by as weight of Lyn's question fell upon him. "Eh, Lyn…as much as I would love for you to travel with me, I think you should ask your parents about it first."

As much as Michael would love a traveling companion, and Lyn would make a great one, Michael wasn't so eager to drag someone out of their usual life to go traveling.

"What?" Lyn asked, flabbergasted. "You…want me to get permission from my parents?"

There was another moment of silence before Lyn spoke once again. "My mother and my father…died six months ago."

Once again, the weight of what Lyn said took a moment to register. "Dead…?" Michael muttered in shock.

"My people—the Lorca—they don't…I'm the last of my tribe" Lyn continued. "Bandit attacked, and…they killed so many people. The tribe was scattered. My father was our chieftain, and I wanted to protect our people. But I'm so young, and my people are so old-fashioned. They wouldn't follow a woman. No one would follow me." Lyn's voice gradually began to quicken and crack as she told her story. Michael had to fight back the urge to hug her. Tears began to fall down Lyn's face.

"Sniff…I'm sorry," Lyn said as she looked into Michael's eyes. "I've been alone for so long…"

As quickly as she started crying, Lyn dried her tears. "No. No more crying. I will shed no more tears" Lyn spoke to herself.

Another silence filled the air as she regained her composure.

"Thank you. I'm better now" Lyn announced. "Michael, I want—I must become stronger, so that I may avenge my father's death!" Lyn told him. "Yesterday's battle taught me something. I won't become stronger by sitting here alone."

"Michael," Lyn said with a tone full of conviction, "Tell me you'll train me that you'll let me travel with you!"

As she finished, Lyn's gaze locked onto Michael's. She appeared as if she had made up her mind. Michael felt as if she were trying to burrow herself into his mind.

Silently weighting the pros and cons in his mind, Michael quickly came to a decision.

"Alright!" he said. "I'll let you come along! It's the least I could do for you saving me yesterday."

"You will?" Lyn asked in astonishment. "That's wonderful! Thank you! Oh, thank you!" Lyn was so ecstatic that she wrapped Michael in a huge hug of thanks. Michael couldn't help but smile as he got caught up in her enthusiasm.

"We'll be better off working together, I know it. You'll be my master strategist and I'll be your peerless warrior!" Lyn said with a smile. "We can do it! Right?"

"Yeah!" Michael agreed, "Together no one can match us!"

On that day, the apprentice tactician Michael and young swordfighter Lyn- a strange pair on an even stranger journey joined together. In preparation for the long road ahead, they would find themselves in Bulgar, the commercial center of Sacae. Unbeknownst to Lyn, she will discover something that will alter her life forever and lead both of them down a path neither of the duo could ever imagine.


	2. Interlude 1: Memories and a Promise

Interlude: Memories and a Promise

**Author's Notes: **After thinking about how I was originally going to write this fic, along with some advice from a certain Mr. Gunlord500, I have decided to forgo the whole 'Using in-game text' thing. I'll still be using actual dialogue from the from the game, just not as heavily and I will be making the Tactician more prominent in the story. I never liked the Tactician just being an afterthought when he could of had story relevance. But I'm rambling now.

These interludes are to serve as fleshing out characters as well as allowing me to (hopefully) add filler that is actually good. Expect these when I want to write but don't have the time to write an entire chapter.

"So Michael," Lyn began to ask as the two of them traveled along the Sacae Plains, "What were you doing traveling by yourself again?"

"Now that you mention it," Michael said as he began to think, "I really have no idea. All I remember is that I was walking along a path. The next thing I know; I'm waking up in your tent."

"How strange… Maybe magic has something to do with it?" Lyn pondered.

"Magic? Really?" Michael sounded surprised. "I don't think it's anything like that."

"Maybe we'll find your memory if we continue traveling!" Lyn suggested.

"I guess…" Michael agreed, though not particularly enthusiastic. "I don't really care, surprisingly enough."

"You don't?!" Lyn was shocked.

"No. Believe it or not, I've had more fun the past two days with you than I think I've ever had in my entire life."

"That's…quite the compliment" Lyn looked down slightly, her face turning a light shade of red.

"Are you blushing?!" Michael teased, "It appears my charms are too much for you to handle!" Michael began to laugh as Lyn became even more flustered.

"As if!" Lyn denied. "Don't start thinking you're a hotshot!"

A swift slap upside Michael's head soon followed.

"Ow!" Michel yelped. "…Totally worth it…" he muttered to himself as he massaged the spot where Lyn had hit him.

The two walked in an awkward silence for some time afterwards. Lyn was surveying the area for possible bandit attacks…or for their next meal. Michael couldn't tell. Meanwhile, Michael had produced a small pouch of money he had found on his person this morning before they left and was busy counting up their finances.

"So how much do we have?" Lyn asked, breaking the silence between them.

"Ten thousand gold" Michael informed her.

"Ten thousand?!" Lyn yelled in shock, her eyes bugging out. "Is that a lot?"

Michael just barely caught himself from falling over after hearing what Lyn asked. He took a moment to think to himself, "I think…? I probably had more when I started out."

"So we should be fine for supplies and all once we make it to Bulgar, correct?" Lyn asked.

Michael nodded in confirmation, "We'll be set for a while with this much gold. Might even be able to hire a mercenary or two."

"Who needs a mercenary when you have someone as skilled with a blade as I?" Lyn asked, her voice full of confidence.

"After what happened yesterday?" Michael countered, "If we ever have to fight more than two bandits of the same caliber as the other ones, you may not come out alive. I_ am not_ taking that kind of risk."

Lyn was surprised into silence for a moment before she spoke again, this time keeping her gaze firmly locked onto Michael, "What happened yesterday was by chance. I will never be caught off guard or underestimate an opponent ever again. You have my word Michael; not just as a warrior or as the daughter of the chieftain of the Lorca tribe, but as a friend."

"…You promise?" Michael asked meekly.

"I swear on my life!" Lyn told him with absolute sincerity.

After that the duo continued down the road to Bulgar, none the wiser for what they would encounter there.


	3. Chapter 1: Footsteps of Fate

Chapter 1: Footsteps of Fate

**Author's notes: **Wow! Almost 6000 words! guess putting my own little touches in early on can really put in some word count. Now hopefully I just go somewhere with it...

nothing much to say here, Enjoy and leave a review so I know what's good and what needs to be fixed!

The streets of Bulgar were bustling with life. People flooded the pathways as they shopped and socialized. Merchants called at people walking by to visit their stalls as their assistants advertised their wear or services as loudly as they could to be hear above the noise. The buildings where people lived stood stories into the sky, possibly the largest buildings in the entire region. It would prove very easy for one to become lost in a city such as this. The city truly lived up to its reputation as the commercial center of Sacae.

"This might take more time to navigate through than I thought…"Michael said as he surveyed the amount of people crowding the streets.

"At least we won't be short for merchants to buy from" Lyn pointed out.

"True," Michael agreed. "Of course, now that we're here, I don't feel so optimistic about how much of our budget is going to be left."

Michael's eyes wandered onto one stall and he found that it was selling three vulnerary in a set for seven hundred gold. "Look at these prices! Outrageous!"

"Don't like the prices? Beat it!" the merchant who manned the stall told Michael.

Michael was about to give the merchant the best retort he could think of but Lyn pulled him away, "Don't antagonize the merchant; he might have friends at other stalls."

"Good point" Michael conceded, settling for giving the merchant a dirty look while he was busy with another customer.

As the two continued to look around for possible supplies, Lyn discovered a talent neither would ever thought she would have: haggling. Lyn managed to not only procure an entire set of kitchen utensils but also several sets of clothes for only one fifth of their original asking price. Michael was just as stunned as he was pleased.

"Remind me to never go shopping without you around" he said jovially.

"That was fun!" Lyn laughed as she stretched her arms. "What else do you think we'll need?"

"Not sure. But let's browse. We'll find something eventually." Of course as Michael said that he took the opportunity to look at the wares of the nearest stall.

The stall wasn't one that had any supplies that the duo would ever need for their journey. This stall was selling jewelry and small toys. There were all kinds of accessories ranging from rings to earrings to glasses. While there were toys such as little stuffed bears and toy swords. Some of the things on sale were quite cute in Michael's opinion and he found himself smiling to himself before he could realize it.

"See something you like?" The merchant asked him, making Michael jump slightly in surprise.

"Oh, no," Michael told her. "Just browsing."

The merchant was silent for a moment as she gave Michael a quick look over. This made Michael a little uncomfortable. She had long dark-red hair that was tied in a ponytail, with eyes just as dark. She wore a red shirt, but it was a much brighter shade than her hair. She was actually quite attractive in Michael's opinion.

"Alrighty!" she said with a smile as she began to walk over to one another stall, "But if you change your mind, just holler!"

"Weird…" Michael said to himself as she walked away.

"What are you looking at?" Lyn asked as she suddenly appeared behind Michael's back.

"Nothing much" Michael told her, not allowing himself to look as surprised as he felt.

"Jewelry?" Lyn asked as she took a look for herself. "Why would you be looking at that?"

"No reason," Michael told her. "This was just the first stall I came to.

Lyn looked around the stall until her eyes fell upon the merchant which then quickly went back to Michael. "And I assume the beautiful merchant running the stall had nothing to do with it?" It was her turn to tease this time.

"Oh, don't even start!" Michael partially yelled in annoyance, "Do you think I'm that dumb as to just be attracted to a pretty face?"

Lyn was silent for a while, her face slowly turning into a sly expression, "So you can dish it but can't take it."

"What?" Michael asked.

Unbeknownst to the both of them, the merchant from before had heard their bickering and was silently listening while slowly turning to face their direction.

"You teased me before, but when the shoe is on the other foot it isn't so fun, is it?" Lyn had a truly smug look on her face.

"You're still on about that?!" Michael asked, flabbergasted.

"All jokes are fair between friends!" Lyn said with a smile as she walked away, leaving Michael in wonder about how personally she could take things.

Michael maybe would have stayed put for quite a long time more if the merchant from before didn't speak up.

"Little fight with your lady friend?" the merchant asked.

"What?" Michael asked, not truly listening to what she said. "Oh, no. It's nothing serious. Just some teasing between friends."

The merchant just gave Michael a big smile. "Of course. The customer is always right." There was a hint in her tone that made it clear she didn't believe him.

"I should probably get going now," Michael announced as he began to leave. "Thanks for letting me browse for so long. Your wares are quite wonderful."

"Thank you" The merchant told Michael. "…But don't you want to get your friend back?"

"Excuse me?" Michael asked, slowly stepping back to the stall, his interest piqued.

"If I know how a lady thinks-and I think I know pretty well-she'll probably think you'll try to trick her back. Why not take her off-guard by buying her something?"

"That's…a good idea?" Michael asked, slowly being sucked into the merchant's sales pitch.

"If I might make a suggestion," The merchant continued, picking up a hand-sized teddy bear from one of the farther racks, "Girls love cute things. Anything furry especially. And this little guy here happens to be the best of the best! How fast these little guys fly off the shelves and the fact that even I keep one with me should tell you all you need to know!"

"…How much?" Michael asked, caught hook line and sinker, but still retaining enough sense to not be ripped-off.

"For you? Fifteen gold. It's usually thirty, but I like you, so I'll give you a discount."

"DEAL!" Michael shouted as he put the gold in the merchant's hand.

"Pleasure doing business with you!" The merchant thanked Michael as he grabbed the bear.

"Oh, yeah. I almost forgot!" Michael said just as he left, "What's your name, if you don't mind me asking?"

"My name?" The merchant asked, caught by surprise. She let out a little smile before responding, "Anna."

"Anna. Mine's Michael. Thanks a bunch!"

"Good luck!" Anna called out as Michael left. Anna made sure Michael had left before she spoke to herself. "Wow! That was an easier sale than I thought! Hook line and sinker! Hope everything goes well for him. The look on his face when she caught him off-guard though? Priceless!"

After several fear filled minutes of searching, Michael found Lyn sitting on the fountain in the center of the city plaza. She looked as if she didn't have a care in the world, her smile still broadly showing on her face.

"Finished flirting?" Lyn asked playfully.

"Yeah," Michael told her, deciding to just go along with her, "I got her name and everything. She was already trying to discuss marriage with me."

"Really?" Lyn asked in complete disbelief, her smile quickly disappearing.

"No," Michael told her flatly.

"Well that's good. I wouldn't want our adventure to end before it even began!" Lyn replied.

Before Michael could respond, a new voice caught both of theirs attention, "Oh, my heart! What a dazzling vision of loveliness!" The voice belonged to a man, they could both obviously tell. And what soon followed the voice was the man it belonged to.

The man had swamp-green hair that went down to his shoulders that was kept from covering his eyes with a purple bandanna. His eyes were the same shade as his hair and the armor he wore was also green, but a more vibrant dark green.

'What's it with people having the same hair and eye color?' Michael asked himself as the man approached.

"Wait, O beauteous one!" the man plead as he made his way over to the duo, "Would you favor me with your name? Or, better yet, your company?"

"Who the heck are you?" Michael asked, quickly getting on his defensive.

Lyn nodded to him and Michael relaxed, if only marginally. "Where are you from, sir knight that you speak so freely to a stranger?" Lyn asked.

"Ha," the man laughed, "I thought you would never ask! I am from Lycia. I hail from Caelin canton, home of men of passion and fire!"

"They must have really lowered the standards for knights if you're one" Michael responded, his voice hollow with disappointment. Lyn let out a small chuckle in response.

The knight from Caelin frowned as he turned his attention to Michael, "And who might you be, my good man, to say such a thing?"

"I happen to b−" Michael began, but his retort was cut off by yet another male voice muffling his own.

"Sain! Hold your tongue!"

This man that quickly made his way over had short orange hair, trimmed so it didn't trouble his vision. His eyes were a light red, thankfully not being the same color as his hair. His armor, while much like the other knight's, was red instead of green.

"Ah, Kent!" the knight called Sain said, "My boon companion! Why so severe an expression?"

"If you're manner were more serious," the knight called Kent told Sain through clenched teeth, "I wouldn't have to be so severe! We still have a mission to complete! And here you are, flirting with yet another maiden!"

"But Kent," Sain whined, "How can I keep on such a mission when there is a maiden as beautiful as her that's caught my eye!?"

"Honestly," Kent said as he massaged the bridge of his nose, "What am I to do with you?"

As the two continued to talk, Michael ever so lightly tapped Lyn shoulder to get her attention before whispering, "As fun as it is to watch them argue, I think it might be advantageous for us to get a move on."

"Good idea," Lyn agreed. "Let's make haste and leave this place before they stop arguing."

As soon as the duo were about to leave, Kent put his shoulder on Lyn's arm, which caused Lyn to spin around to face him, her hand hovering over the hilt of her sheath.

"Pardon me but…," Kent began, almost unsure about what he was saying, "I feel we've met before."

"I beg your pardon?" Lyn asked, almost scandalized.

"Kent!" Sain whined again, "No fair! I saw her first!"

"It seems there are no decent men in Lycia's knights after all" Lyn huffed as she walked away, Michael right behind her.

"Wait!" Kent said, "It's not like…that…"

But the duo were already gone, lost in the sea of shoppers.

"Sain," Kent said once again through clenched teeth in a barely controlled rage, "YOU LOUT! Last time I remembered, I was not you!"

"So you weren't…" Sain began, only now realizing his friend was not thinking the same way he was. "Oh…a thousand pardons."

"Hold the apologies for later! For now we must find that maiden! I think she might be our mission!"

"Truly?! We must act fast then! They were certainly quick on their feet to leave!"

"And who do you think was the cause of that, hm?"

The two knights began to scour the city, but soon realized that they had lost the duo within minutes. Desperate to find them, they decided to make their way to the entrance of the city. Eventually, they would have to pass through to leave.

For the duo however, the two knights quickly became the least of their worries, as they were being followed almost immediately after fading into the crowd. What was originally one pursuer soon became two. If it weren't for Lyn looking over her shoulder earlier to make sure whether the knights were following them or not, they would have never known they were being pursued. Even as they ran, Michael was dedicating everything he had to formulating a winning strategy for Lyn.

"We have to get out of the markets!" Michael told Lyn, "It's too suffocating for any of your sword techniques."

"You're the tactician!" Lyn answered him as they ran out towards the entrance of the city and towards the wide open fields.

Surveying the area, Michael was relieved to find that the area had many more little thickets of trees than the last battle. This would prove useful both as a means for Lyn to more easily avoid attacks, but almost presented more areas for him to hide so he could continually relay commands and strategies in order to keep Lyn battling effectively. The entire area was split into two side by a river running through it, with two bridges serving as the only way to cross from one side to the other.

"I hear something!" Lyn spoke up as they both froze in silence. "Horses! Are those knights after us?!"

"Can't be," Michael reassured her, "There's no way they would be able to track us once we got in that crowd"

"But we were being followed before!" Lyn pointed out.

"That's different," Michael explained, "Someone had their eyes on us since we were talking to them. Unless−"

But Michael never got to finish that thought, for at that same moment, a bandit walked up to them.

He was aged, with gray hair and an equally gray stubble. But his body had many scars, testaments to the battles he had had. The axe he carried over his shoulders was stained in dried blood.

"Well aren't you a pretty thing!" The bandit laughed as he gave Lyn a once over. "I assume your Lyndis?"

"How do you know that name?! Who are you?!" Lyn yelled.

"That shouldn't matter to you dearie," The bandit answered. "But still…It's such a waste…The things I do for gold. Come on out boys! It's time to earn your coin!"

At the bandit's command, several bandits emerged from cover in the thickets Michael had been thinking of using for cover.

"There goes that plan…" Michael muttered.

"This might be more than I can handle…"Lyn said dejectedly. "But that doesn't mean I won't try!"

Just as a battle was about to commence, the sound of horses galloping, now clearly close by, filled the air. On those two horses, were the knights Kent and Sain from earlier.

"You two!" Michael exclaimed.

"Finally caught up…" Sain managed to say in between gulps of air. "We were looking everywhere for you."

"Great," Lyn said in annoyance, "Just what I need. A knight to flirt with me as I get an axe through the head."

"You wound me, fair maiden!" Sain responded. "We are here to help! You there!" He addressed the bandit leader, "Why so many numbers against one girl? You are all cowards!"

"Why are you-?" Lyn began, but was cut off by Kent.

"We will explain all later. Once the battle is done."

"Wise advice" Michael agreed.

"Very well," Kent addressed Michael, "We shall be under your command! Direct us as you see fit."

"I think I'm about done giving you all the time to chat!" The bandit leader announced as he made way to attack.

"Get on the horse!" Michael told Lyn as he jumped onto Kent's, leaving Lyn to get onto Sain's. "Ride down south towards that small thicket! We'll form a strategy there and catch our breath!"

Dutifully following Michael's instructions, Kent rode his horse as commanded, with Sain and Lyn following close behind.

"Damn!" The bandit leader shouted, "Don't just stand there you half-brained idiots! Go haul them back here!"

As they got to the thicket, Michael, rather ungracefully, got off Kent's horse, earning a few bruises for his trouble from the tumble down. While Lyn got off Sain's horse as if she had been around horses her entire life. Though being from the plains, Michael couldn't expect anything less from her.

"What will our plan be?" Lyn asked, her full faith in him coming up with a perfect strategy.

"Give me a minute," Michael told her as he peaked around the trunk of a tree.

Two of the bandits from the group were attempting to pursue them, but their speed and ability to cover ground were nothing compared to Sain and Kent's mounts. All the other bandits were waiting patiently for their comrades to bring back their quarry. It was a mistake to assume they were trapped and helpless animals.

"Alright," Michael said as he turned to face the other three, "Here's the first part of our attack: Sain, on my mark, I want you to engage the bandit on our right side. He looks to be slightly faster than the other ones and is covering more ground. We'll wait until they tire themselves out with running over here to attack."

"I will be as swift as the wind itself!" Sain answered.

"Whatever," Michael told him. "Meanwhile, Lyn: I want you to go after the guy on our left. You'll be leaving after Sain engages his opponent. That guy will probably want to help his buddy while Sain is dealing with him. While that's happening, that's when you can get the jump on him."

"Leave it to me!" Lyn told him.

"What about me?" Kent spoke up.

"Kent," Michael began, "You'll be carrying me over to our next little hideaway so I can direct our next step. After that, you'll be joining Lyn and Sain on the front lines."

"Understood!" Kent nodded.

"On my mark, Sain," Michael motioned as he peaked his head back out to see the two bandit's progress, holding his arm in the air as he did so.

As soon as Michael could clearly see their faces, he gave Sain the signal to move in. True to his word, Sain engaged them almost as quickly as Michael had given him the signal.

Just as predicted, the other bandit began to rush in to assist his comrade, when Lyn appeared from out of nowhere and began to engage him herself, dodging every sloppy swing with his axe he could muster.

Unfortunately, Sain was not doing as spectacular as one could hope. His spear wasn't connecting with its target, the bandit dodging every thrust before they were completely followed through.

"Sain!" Kent yelled, "What is this foolishness?! Take out your blade and be done with him!"

"A blade?" Sain answered as he pulled his horse back from an attack, "But the lance is a far nobler and heroic weapon!"

Michael's hand collided with his forehead, "You have got to be joking…"

From Kent's own reaction, Michael wasn't alone. "He forgot to bring along a sword…May I?" Kent asked Michael.

"Are you going to help him out?" Michael asked in return.

Kent gave a nod.

"By all means."

In two blinks of an eye, Kent was at Sain's side, where he produced an iron sword and threw it over to Sain.

"A thousand thanks, my good friend!" Sain thanked Kent.

"You're just lucky I have a spare," Kent chastised him, "Otherwise you would be on your own."

"I don't believe you would let me out to die for one minute," Sain quipped back as he ran the bandit through, as if he was a fly to be swatted away.

"OK, the knights are done, how about you Lyn?!" Michael asked as he looked over to where she was last engaging the bandit. But all that was left was his corpse.

"I've been done for some time now" Lyn explained as she sat down next to him.

"That was fast!" Michael noted.

"That oaf of a knight was just slow."

"I'll have you know I was just playing with him before he would be dealt his horrible demise!" Sain desperately tried to defend himself as the two of knights made their return.

"Your orders?" Kent asked, eager to serve.

As Michael peaked around the tree once again, he saw that the bandits had decided to converge on the bridges rather then attempting to engage two knights on horseback.

"It seems they've changed their plan from just running at us to blocking the bridges so we can't get by" Michael noted.

"A mistake they will learn soon enough" Kent mentioned.

"You know it!" Michael agreed. "But first, let's make our way closer to where they are. I want to see how many of them are left."

Being sure to tread carefully, the group made their way to another thicket. On the short ride they were spotted by the bandits, but they didn't try to engage them in combat. There were three bandits left in all. The leader from before, and two underlings. Each of the underlings was guarding one of the bridges, assuring that no one would be able to pass through without going through them first.

"This is almost too easy," Michael announced to the others. "Kent, I want you to keep the bandit on the bridge to the left of us busy for a while."

"I shall commence with my task as soon as you give the signal" Kent told Michael.

"Meanwhile, I want Sain to take the guy on the right. Think you can handle it?" Michael asked Sain, remembering the fiasco that was Sain's first brush with the other bandit.

"It seems I'll have to outdo myself in order to repair my image" Sain huffed, obviously sore from Michael's little comment.

"Fine," Michael told him, "Lyn, you g−"

"WAIT! I never said I wouldn't do it" Sain yelled.

"Please treat them seriously this time," Lyn advised, "It wouldn't be very heroic to wind up on the wrong side of an axe."

"If it shall keep the lovely maiden from fretting about my well-being, consider the bandit already dead."

"Nice to see you still have some fire left in you" Michael noted.

"What about me?" Lyn asked.

"You'll be staying back this time," Michael told her. From the look of their leader, he has a lot of battle experience. I want you to stay back for a while and catch your breath. Since you aren't on a mount, you'll be less of a target once the time comes."

"And I want you two to be careful," Michael warned, turning his attention to the two knights, "You'll be fighting on the bridges. Your horses won't have the luxury of maneuvering you out of danger as with the last skirmish. You'll have to finish off your bandit as soon as possible."

"I shall keep that in mind as I approach" Kent said.

"Those two look like they are expecting us. They probably won't give us an opening to exploit, so I think you guys can just rush in whenever you feel like you can-but be careful! Actually…" Michael began to rub his chin as he looked at Lyn.

"What?" Lyn asked.

"How many vulnerary do you have on you right now?" Michael asked her.

Lyn took a moment to pull out the pouch from before and counted its content. "Five."

Michael's mouth fell open as quickly as a Lyn cut down bandits. "I'm sorry, I think I misheard you. Did you say FIVE vulnerary?"

"Yes."

Michael massaged his temples as he let the information sink in. "Is that a problem?" Sain asked him.

"No," Michael let out in a long sigh, "I'm just…thinking about how nobody tells me important details like these. But anyway, please give Kent and Sain a vulnerary."

With the two each packed with a vulnerary, they each set off to dispatch their respective bandit. They each did well considering they were on the losing end in terms of maneuverability, but after some time coaxing the bandits away from the bridges, they fell quite easily. Though, both Kent and Sain did receive their own wounds during that dangerous game of cat and mouse. Michael was wise to give them each a vulnerary in case things went awry.

"Nicely done guys," Michael commended them as they drank some of their medical potions. "You pulled that off very well."

"Ha!" Sain laughed, "It will take far more than a few measly bandits to defeat Kent and me!"

"Indeed," Kent agreed, "With your tactical genius, there should be no enemy we cannot defeat if we work together."

"All that's left is the leader of that little force" Lyn pointed out.

"He's smart," Michael thought aloud, "He's not engaging us on his own. Rather, he's waiting for us to come to him."

"Why so?' Sain asked.

"If we all came in to overpower him all at once, we risk the threat of harming each other," Michael explained. This last fight is strictly going to be on a one-on-one basis. If someone is taking too much damage, they'll have to tag someone else in for them to finish the job."

"That's why you wanted me to rest!" Lyn guessed, "So I could be ready to fight him and bring him down all at once."

Michael gave an affirmative nod. "But just because you're rested doesn't mean he'll be easy. Remember last time; don't underestimate your opponent."

"I was careless once," Lyn said, "And that was the only time I shall ever be."

"He's all yours" Michael told her.

"Good luck!" Sain called out as Lyn walked toward the bandit leader.

"May your sword bring him swift judgment!" Kent called out.

As Lyn walked over to the leader, Michael sat down in the grass, his eyes trained on Lyn.

"What do we do now?" Kent asked.

"It's simple really," Michael said as he motioned for both of them to take a seat on the ground, "We wait for Lyn to win."

"Ba!" The bandit leader spat, "Damn knights. They never know when to keep their noses out of our business!"

"You don't have to die here," Lyn told the bandit, attempting to avoid further bloodshed, "You can walk away right now and be done with it."

As much as Lyn wanted to avoid a fight if she could, her arm was resting firmly on her sheath, just in case the bandit would not listen to reason.

"I think you know as well as I do girlie!" The bandit leader scoffed, "That this here day isn't going to end unless one of our head's is rolling down the river!"

"I tried…" Lyn muttered sadly to herself as she quickly drew her iron sword.

With a ferocious roar cry, the bandit leader, with more speed than one of his age would let on, delivered a deadly horizontal slash with his axe aiming for Lyn's stomach. Lyn quickly put up her sword in a defensive position in order to block the blow. His axe met her sword, and the two were locked in a struggle to push each other back, each hoping to create an opening as they did so.

As far as strength went, Lyn was outclassed. Lyn was slowly seeing herself being pushed back against the overwhelming force behind the leader's axe. It would only be a matter of time before her guard gave out from her arms cramping up. In a wise move, Lyn jumped back and out of the axe's range, just as the leader put in a large thrust of force behind his axe.

As the bandit leader delivered another blow, this time a vertical slash, Lyn bounced out of the way and attempted to stab at him through his side, but the bandit's strike turned out to be a faint as he drew his axe back to deflect Lyn's blow.

"Sorry girlie," The Bandit leader laughed, "Last time I was stupid enough to let somebody do that, I got this here scar on my face and almost lost my right eye."

"Damn!" Lyn muttered under her breath.

Away from the fight, Michael was analyzing both combatants fighting styles. Lyn's style focused greatly on grace and quick strikes. Neither Lyn nor her style was cut out for prolonged battles. Michael would do best to remember that for later battles.

On the contrary, the bandit leader had the opposite style, focusing purely on power and force rather than any true speed and trickery. This man had a style that proved to be the result of many long battles. He was the worst opponent for Lyn to face.

"She's being pushed back," Kent observed. "Let me take her place."

"She's not finished yet!" Sain reminded Kent.

"I agree with Sain," Michael said, "Lyn still hasn't shown her trump card yet.

"Trump card?" Kent asked curiously.

"Keep watching," Michael recommended, "You might just see it soon."

The battle between Lyn and the bandit leader had devolved into Lyn just keeping out of his attack range as he slowly advanced his way towards her. Lyn's breathing was beginning to become haggard, a telltale sign that she was becoming fatigued. This battle would be decided in just a few more moments.

"I think we're nearing the end of our little game here, Lyndis" The bandit leader said mockingly.

"Michael was confident enough to let me take you on all on my own," Lyn told him, "I won't betray his trust and expectations!"

"Thick-headed to the bitter end," The bandit leader mused, "That's youth for you…"

As the bandit readied what was surly meant to be his killing blow, Lyn took a new stance. Instead of keeping the blade low like she usually did, she brought the blade to her shoulders as she crouched down, putting her front foot out as she took a long breath.

"Here is comes!" Michael announced.

Almost as if he was moving at two different speeds at once, Lyn slowly, but somehow quickly, disappeared before everyone's eyes. A shock went through everyone but Michael when Lyn vanished.

In his shock, the bandit leader lowered his axe as he surveyed the area, but it was a wasted effort. The sound of a blade cutting through flesh echoed in the air as Lyn tore through the bandit's body with every strike. The final slash cut open his neck. His last sounds were him gargling on his own blood as he fell down in a single heap to the ground where he died shortly as his body connected with the ground.

"So that's what she did last time…" Michael muttered to himself as him, Kent, and Sain ran to meet Lyn.

"That was marvelous technique!" Kent said, truly awed.

"That bandit didn't know what was coming!" Sain gushed, "The look on his face as she disappeared was to die for!"

"He was definitely more skilled than the last one…" Lyn stated. "If it wasn't for him leaving an opening from getting cocky, my technique wouldn't have worked half as well."

"All part of the battle though," Michael reassured her. "You were on your guard. He wasn't. It's obvious who the victor would be."

Lyn gave him an affirmative nod to show that she agreed. "Now," Lyn said, "Let' hear what these knights have to say."

"But of course," Kent began almost immediately, "We have ventured from Caelin, in Lycia, in search of someone."

"Lycia," Lyn said as she looked at Michael, "Isn't it that the country beyond the mountains in the southeast?"

Michael gave her a confused shrug in response.

"You are correct," Kent told her. "We came as messengers to lady Madelyn, who eloped with a nomad some nineteen years ago."

"Madelyn?" Lyn asked.

"Our lord the marquess of Caelin's only daughter," Kent continued. "He was heartbroken his own daughter would abandon him. Eventually, he simply declared he had no daughter."

"And then wouldn't you know," Sain jumped in, "This year we received a letter from lady Madelyn. It said her, her husband, and their daughter were living happily on the Sacae plains. The marquess was ecstatic to discover that he had a granddaughter of eighteen years. Why, the smile he had on his face when he announced he had suddenly become a grandfather went from one end of the castle to the other! Especially so when he found out the girl's name was Lyndis. It was the same name as the marquess's wife, who passed away at an early age."

"Lyndis?" Lyn asked once again.

Michael was fully absorbed into the conversation to make any comments.

"You can certainly believe that little tidbit melted whatever was left of the ice around the marquess's heart. Now, his only wish is to meet his daughter's family at least once," Sain went on. "That's why we are here. But we didn't know that lady Madelyn died a few days after sending her letter…We only learned this shortly after arriving in Bulgar."

"But we also learned that all was not lost," Kent began anew, "Her daughter yet lives. We heard she was living alone on the plains… I knew immediately that she was you."

"Why would you think that?" Lyn asked.

"Your resemblance to your departed mother is remarkable," Kent explained.

"Did you know my mother?" Lyn asked again.

"I am sorry to say I never met her directly," Kent told her, "But I saw her portrait in Castle Caelin."

"To the rest of my tribe," Lyn began, 'I was always Lyn. "But when I was with my parents…When it was just the three of us, I was Lyndis. It's so strange. Before, I was all alone in the world, and now I have a grandfather. Lyndis…I never thought I would hear that name again."

Silent tears swept down Lyn's face as she finished speaking. Everyone was silent as she dried her tears.

"Wait!" Lyn yelled as she opened her eyes in revelation, "That bandit! He called me Lyndis, too!"

"What?" Kent asked, "But how could he have−"

"…He was a henchman of Lord Lundgren, wasn't he?" Sain spat.

"Lundgren?" Lyn asked, "Who's that?"

"He's the marquess's younger brother," Kent explained. Everyone assumed the lady Madelyn was gone forever. This made Lord Lundgren the heir to the marquess's title."

"To be blunt, milady," Sain stepped in, "Your existence is an obstacle to your granduncle's ambition."

"That's-" Lyn stuttered, "But I have no interest in inheriting any title!"

"I'm afraid your granduncle isn't the sort of man to believe that," Sain told her. "I believe the attempts on your life will persist."

"What should I do?" Lyn asked, clueless as to how to act following these new revelations.

"Accompany us to Caelin," Kent beckoned her, "Continuing on this way is dangerous."

"But I was traveling with Michael," Lyn explained to the knights, "I can't just go on without him!"

"It's alright," Michael told her, as he had finished processing everything Kent and Sain had said. "Besides, I original plan was going to involve us just wandering from place to place. Now, we have a destination−and a goal in mind."

"Will you continue to be my master tactician?" Lyn asked.

"Will you continue to be my peerless warrior?" Michael answered her.

Lyn let out a small smile. "Very well," Lyn said to Kent and Sain as she faced them, "I will go with you."

The four have banded together on their way towards Caelin. However, on the way lies a shrine famed for its mystical sword. Their next stop is the temple where this sword is enshrined. Since this sword is said to bring luck to those who touch it, it is a stop not just for sightseeing, but for morale as well. But there Lyn will discover her most steadfast ally and her most trustworthy of weapons.

**Author's notes: **Don't listen to what Michael says, Lyn was blessed by the RNG Goddess and we all know it!

Going by my limited knowledge of FE7 (Only got to the chapter where you get a boat to Dead Isle) Anna doesn't appear nearly enough for my liking. I hope to make her a recurring/main character. Maybe not in Lyn's route, but definitely in Eliwood's and Hector's.


	4. Interlude 2: We Have a Map?

Interlude 2: We Have a Map?

**Author's Notes:** Loving the feedback guy! It really gets me the motivation to keep writing whenever I have the time.

Anyways, as I was thinking about where the story is heading, I began to think about the past I would make for Michael. If I manage to pull it off well, it'll make some sense. If not, it'll look like it came out of left field. Here's hoping! =D

With the battle against the bandits ended decisively, Michael, Kent, and Sain were recuperating just outside of the city entrance while Lyn was charged with buying some last minute supplies. Michael had given her an allowance of fifteen hundred gold, which he was sure she would be able to stretch far. They would be in desperate need of medical supplies upon the upcoming journey.

The knights had taken the opportunity to give their horses some rest and were tying their reigns as close to the river as possible so that the horses could drink to their hearts content. Michael, meanwhile, was plopped down on the road as he counted over their supplies.

"So we used up two vulnerary in the last battle…" Michael muttered to himself as he opened up the pouch that Lyn stored her medicine in, "That leaves three left…"

After that last skirmish, Michael realized that he would have to be especially careful to micromanage all weapons and supplies in the future. Being underprepared almost spelled doom for everyone twice already. With them only being involved in two battles so far, that was by no means a good start to their track record.

"What are you mumbling about all to yourself, Mr. Tactician?" Sain asked as he appeared out of nowhere and leaned over Michael's shoulder, trying to gaze at the contents of the pouch.

"Just trying to see how much medicine we have left" Michael answered as he pulled the pouch out of Sain's view and closed it.

"How do our supplies fare?" Kent asked, suddenly appearing into the conversation, walking over to keep an eye on Sain, lest him antics begin anew.

"If we don't bother giving any to Sain, we should be fine!" Michael told him.

"Have no worries!" Sain assured Michael, "I won't be injured again in the slightest!"

"Forgive me if I choose to not believe you" Kent quipped. "I fact, if I were you, I would be insulted."

"But that's where we are different, you and I," Sain explained, "I can take a joke, unlike yourself!"

"I most certainly CAN take a joke, I'll have you know!" Kent argued.

"Then why, pray thee tell, have you never laughed at any of mine?" Sain asked.

"Because your 'jokes' are never funny!" Kent told Sain flat out.

"WHAT?!" Sain yelled as he jerked back in an overzealous fashion, "Me? Not funny? If I cannot allow even my most steadfast yet most serious comrade the respite of a laugh, I fear I cannot go on living!" His face was scrunched up in truly sad expression.

"Is this where I clap and marvel at the brilliant acting?" Michael asked as he watched the whole charade unfold.

"Did it bring you to your knees in laughter? Or at the very least, a snicker?" Sain asked, dropping the charade.

"No" Michael told him.

"Then never mind…" Sain said dejectedly as he waved his hand at him in a surrendering fashion, this time truly crestfallen.

"Is this a routine you two do?" Michael asked Kent.

"What routine?" Kent asked, completely serious.

"I think you two may need some help…"

"Who needs help now?" Lyn asked as she returned holding a rather large open pouch filled with vulnerary.

"Our lady made out like a bandit!" Sain announced with an enthusiastic glee, forgetting the failure that was his comedy routine as Lyn handed the bag to Michael.

"How much did you get?!" Michael asked as he began to pull out each vial of medicine.

Lyn was silent for a moment as she rubbed her chin in thought, "Twelve…maybe fifteen?"

"That's not even two hundred per vulnerary!" Michael exclaimed in shock as he did the math in his head, "Where'd you buy all this?"

"You know that merchant we saw when we first got here?" Lyn asked, to which Michael nodded, "Turns out no one was buying from him because his prices were too high. That and another merchant carrying the same merchandise put up his wares for sale right across from his. He was a little stubborn with the pricing, but I somehow managed to get him to pull down the price once I put the gold on the table."

"You are a Goddess among mortals!" Michael sang as he counted up the last of the medicine. They now had seventeen vials of vulnerary to use. At least now if worse came to worse and Michael couldn't come up with a full-proof plan, they wouldn't be hard pressed to use up vulnerary in necessary risky actions.

"Why thank you," Lyn told him, "I try my best. Though truth be told, I didn't convince him to lower the price."

"Pardon?" Michael asked.

"As I was trying to haggle with the merchant," Lyn explained, "He just kept yelling at me. He was as stubborn with his prices as he was old. I was pretty sure he was about to tell me to leave when that red-haired merchant from before dropped in. In a minute she convinced him to drop his prices down to a forth. Truth be told she did it by offering ME a deal that she would offer me as much as I could carry for all the gold I was to use. He got pretty panicky and told me he would lower the price nothing shorter than one-hundred and fifty gold per vulnerary."

"Then we better thank Anna as well!" Michael laughed. "I'll have to remember this if I ever come back here. I'll drop a mountain load of gold down on her shop!"

"I apologize that I myself cannot undergo such tasks with such wondrous results" Kent apologized. He seemed to take any job he couldn't perform exceptionally at as a sign that he was subpar overall as a knight.

"Don't apologize, Kent," Lyn told him, "I had fun doing it. Besides, 'Anna's' the one that deserves the credit."

"Is there a problem?" Michael asked her, picking up on the subtle change in Lyn's tone as she said Anna's name.

"No. What goes on with your lovers is your own business!" Lyn joked. "Of course, if you want to 'drop a mountain load of gold on her shop,' you better do it after closing time!"

"…Did you just make a dirty joke?" Michael asked in disbelief.

"The granddaughter of a ruler should not be saying such things," Kent managed to squeak out, "I only hope our road back to Caelin is swift."

"Oiy, Kent!" Sain yelled, "Don't go jinxing us now with that kind of talk!"

"That's just a superstition," Michael said as he put his hands around his head, "Nothing bad is going to happen!" Of course, as Michael got done saying that, he felt as if he was going to be proven wrong soon.

"It's exactly as Michael says," Lyn agreed, "Though I do want to make a stop along the way, if we can spare the time."

"Where to?" Michael asked.

"There's this small shrine a little ways off," Lyn informed him, "Nomads often go and wish for safety on their travels by touching the sheath of the sword enshrined there and praying to the spirits that reside within it."

"Sounds slightly….heretical…" Kent muttered aloud, perhaps too much so for comfort's sake.

"Huh?" Michael asked, giving Kent a chance to explain himself before he set Lyn off, who was already beginning to turn a slight shade of red from anger.

"Huh…?" Kent asked at first, unaware that he had been heard, "Oh, I just meant that that sounds quite different compared to the teachings of Elimine. But please, pay me no mind. An outburst like that shall not happen again. I'm well aware that there is not just one religion. I'll be sure to refrain from such thoughts in the future."

"You'll have to forgive Kent!" Sain laughed, "He's not the most flexible of men! Or the most understanding for that matter…"

"I suppose…" Lyn said slowly, but still clearly miffed.

"Well then," Michael announced as he clapped his hands together, hoping to end any lingering sentiments before things got too far out of hand, "To wherever this shrine is!"

"Bring out the map, I'll show you the location!" Lyn suggested.

"We have one of those?!" Michael asked. "Since when?!"

"Since our shopping trip earlier today!" Lyn exclaimed. "I hope your memory isn't so bad that you've forgotten already!"

"Give me a break," Michael whined, "Buying something like a map is pretty easy to forget when you're directing troops who are fighting for their lives!"

After rummaging in his cloak for a brief moment, Michael produced a folded up map. As they opened up the map and proceeded to scan the nearby region, they found that the shrine was very close to their current location, slightly towards the northeast. On horseback it would only take half a day to arrive there. They could easily afford to have a detour, as long as they didn't make a habit of it.

"We head northeast then!" Sain yelled.

"Just don't start commanding your horse to go full speed," Kent warned him, "I don't want to stop halfway through because you tired the poor thing out."


	5. Chapter 2: Sword of Spirits

Chapter 2: Sword of Spirits

**Author's Notes: **Wow! Not once, but twice I've pretty much doubled the word count for this fic in just one upload! That's the power inspiration baby!

But enough of that! Though with regards to Zallow, who's given me one of my most constructive reviews yet. The interlude aren't supposed to be long(Yet!). They're filler for the next part as well as me trying to flesh out/shape the characters(And try to push in some jokes that may or may not be funny). I'm happy to know you like the story so far,but please, remember that next time one gets uploaded. You can skip it and it won't be important to the plot(Yet!). BTW, I'm not mad. Just explaining.

But you'll be happy to know that there will be no interlude between this and the next chapter!

Hope you guys like this one! Its long at over 5K words before A/N!

"Boss!" A bandit brandishing his axe yelled to another with a sword, "We got all the people in their houses. We can go get the sword and skedaddle!"

"Excellent!" The swordsman gave the bandit a wide grin. The swordsman had short dark green hair with a small stubble. His face had a permanent expression that always made him look like he was in a bad mood. "Give me a minute boys and we'll be back out on the open roads in no time. After all, those travelers aren't going to pillage themselves with us not there!"

The entire group let out a hearty laugh as he finished speaking.

"I want a few of you boys to guard the doors," He ordered, "I don't want any curious do-gooders ruining my greatest moment."

Inside the shrine was just a single old man. With his grayed hair and his feeble walking stick supporting him, he would be no danger when the sword would be taken.

"Old man!" The swordsman yelled as he walked over, "Stay where you are and hold your tongue! I'm here to claim that there sword as my own!"

"Threaten me as you like," The old man spoke in defiance, "But I'll _not_ give up the Mani Katti. The Mani Katti is a sacred blade, under divine protection. It cannot be removed from its place of rest. "

The old man had spine. He had some respect for the senile old fool. But spine alone wouldn't stop him.

"You're a fool old man," The swordsman told him, "What good's a sword if you don't use it?"

"Use it?!" The old man asked in awe, "In combat? Sacrilege!"

"Sacrilege!?" The swordsman yelled back, "I am Glass! The gods fear my name! I am a swords master without equal! Peerless! And if I want this sword, then by gods no man-or gods-will keep me from possessing it!"

Glass pushed the old man aside as tore the sword from its altar. Greedily, Glass tried to unsheathe the sword, but for whatever reason, it wouldn't budge.

"I can't…draw the sword…?" Glass grunted as he tried to pry out the sword.

"The spirits have judged you," The old man explained to Glass as he got back up, "You have been found wanting. The spirits of the sword have not granted you permission to use it. Return it now and be on your way."

"What?" Glass asked in rage, "Listen you senile old fool, if you value whatever you have left of your life, you'll keep your yap shut and tell me how to wield this accursed blade!"

"There is no way for you to ever wield it" The old man told him calmly.

Glass let out a terrible yell in his rage, took the old man by his collar, and locked him behind a door behind the shrine. Glass didn't know it, but the old man secretly grabbed the sword from his clutches before he was sealed away in the back room.

"Have fun rotting, old man!" Glass called out. "Boys!" Glass addressed his men, "Change of plans! Pillage, burn, and destroy everything you can find! We'll tear this shrine down brick by single brick!"

"Well what do you know?" Michael said as the group stopped in the middle of the small town outside of the shrine, "We're here already."

"Taking that last spurt over those hills paid off in spades!" Sain exclaimed. "Was that not a brilliant idea I came up with?"

"A brief moment of you suggesting a sound idea!" Kent marveled, "I will never forget this day as long as I live."

"Alright," Lyn sighed, "Less making fun of Sain and more walking to the shrine."

"Alight!" Michael sighed. "Don't you think things are a little…quite right now? Like, too quite?"

"Now that you mention it," Lyn said absentmindedly as she looked around her, "There's no one outside. Why?"

"I think we're about to find out" Kent said as he pointed to a young girl running towards them.

Sain himself was about to start jogging over himself, but Kent restrained him before he could get chance. Leave it to Sain to put women first.

"Help! Please help!" The woman cried.

"Calm down!" Lyn ordered, though quickly changing her tone when she realized she had sounded severe, "Please, calm down and tell us whatever the matter is."

"The priest! In the shrine! Bandits! They're going to destroy everything!" The woman cried.

"Sounds like we arrived just in time" Michael said. "Shall we?"

Lyn, Kent, and Sain all nodded in agreement. "By your leave."

"Sain!" Michael commanded, "We're doing some reconnaissance!"

"We shall make haste!" Sain bragged as he pulled Michael onto his horse and rode off.

As they road across the bend in the town and headed off towards the shrine, Michael found one bandit. He was standing aside by the houses, not doing anything, but not trying to stay hidden from them either.

"Ok, that sets off my alarm…" Michael muttered as they rode along.

"Do you want me to deal with him first?" Sain asked as he stopped his horse in advance to assault the enemy.

"No," Michael commanded, "We don't know if he has friends lying in wait. We'll see how many more there are and return to the others."

With a nod, Sain gave his horse the command to continue riding. When they made their way along to the entrance of the shrine, Michael cursed.

"Mountains! This is that last thing we need! Horses can't travel across them!"

To make matters worse, there were three other bandits close by. Two were guarding the door to the shrine while a third ran inside as soon as he saw Michael and Sain approach.

"I think now would be a good time to go?" Sain suggested.

Michael gave an affirmative nod and Sain turned his horse around and trotted off at full speed.

As they made their way back, Michael noticed that the bandit that was out of the away had disappeared. Michael hoped that he had just been scared away by Sain and wasn't in hiding for an ambush. Still, Michael would take extra care to guide everyone out of the way of possible hiding places if he could.

"You're back!" Lyn announced as the two came galloping in.

"Yeah, and boy have we got some work to do" Michael told her.

"What is out enemy's status?" Kent asked, eager to be kept out of the dark.

"From what I saw, there are five men," Michael informed them, "One of them was outside by the houses, but on the way back, he was gone. I think he might be in hiding somewhere. Meanwhile, the other four were outside the shrine, guarding the entrance, but one of them ran inside when he saw us approach. It's safe to say the leader knows we're here now. The west side of the shrine is littered with small mountains. Neither you nor Sain will be able to enter from there. I think our best bet will be to tear down part of the wall and go in from there."

"No!" Lyn objected as she heard the last part.

"Lady Lyndis," Kent tried to reason with her, "While it may be an unholy act to destroy part of a shrine, doing so to save lives−as well as the treasure sealed within−is not. If we are to save everyone, we must do this."

"I know…" Lyn sighed, "It just doesn't sit well with me."

"We'll keep the damage to a minimum" Michael assured her.

"Alright…let's go" Lyn relented.

"Unless they've moved from their positions, we should be able to proceed right to the shrine without resistance" Michael stated.

"The sooner we are done the better!" Sain yelled as he psyched himself up.

"Our swords shall be their judges and executioners" Kent solemnly said as he bowed his head in a small prayer.

Once they had ridden over to the shrine, they all began to check for small areas of disrepair in the walls of the shrine, hoping to find a place where they could begin to easily chink away at the brick. It took some time, but eventually, Michael was able to find a small area, no larger than his fist, which looked weak enough for them to punch through.

"Here's the strategy," Michael told them, "While Kent begins to destroy the wall, Sain here will stay as his backup just in case enemies come from our rear. Meanwhile, Lyn, I want you to go through those mountains and lure off as many of the bandits as you can. Those mountains are more like hills, but the horses can't safety traverse them during battle."

"I believe my spear would be best for punching through the wall, what do you think?" Kent asked.

"That sounds good," Michael agreed, "Piercing will work more against the wall that stabbing it."

"Let's get to it, Kent" Sain ushered, "I swear on my life you will be able to work unfretted."

Kent gave him a nod and quickly went to work on the wall. Meanwhile, tagging along with Lyn, Michael made his way over to the mountains. With the rough terrain, a change in the battle strategy was a big possibility. Michael wanted to make sure that if that was the case, Lyn would be able to respond quickly and efficiently.

"Be careful as you cross," Michael warned, "They're probably waiting in ambush!"

All Michael needed now was a crystal ball and a shroud, because a soon as Lyn rounded the corner of the shrine after the mountains, she found herself quickly going on the defensive from an ambush from one of the bandits. Luckily, Lyn already had her sword drawn, so the bandit didn't have much, if any, of an opportunity to land any blows on Lyn. He was dealt with quickly, one slash across the neck sealing his fate.

Unfortunately, the bandits that were originally stationed outside the entrance had retreated to the interior. Bad news.

"We need to get back to Kent and Sain!" Lyn yelled.

"Let's not waste any time!" Michael agreed a he began to run back towards the mountains.

If anything, Kent was a fast worker. By the time the two had made their way back to the knights, more than half of the wall was broken through. Kent's spear didn't fare much better itself. There were nicks in the metal and parts of it had fallen off.

"Back already?" Sain asked with a yawn.

"Stop working!" Lyn commanded.

"The bandits are all converging on the other side of the wall!" Michael finished.

"So that's it…" Kent muttered aloud. "I was wondering what all the commotion was on the other side. I thought they were panicking from Lady Lyndis wreaking havoc on their numbers."

"Only one man was guarding the entrance," Lyn explained, "He was using the mountains as cover."

"And I assume our master tactician saw right through it?" Sain asked.

"Of course!" Michael told him as he stuck out his chest. "But we don't have the time for jokes right now. Here's a new strategy."

"We're all ears" Kent pointed out.

"You're all going to wait behind me as I break through the wall" Michael said in a whisper.

"Are you crazy?!" Lyn asked.

Michael put a finger over his mouth to signal the others to keep their voices low, "They're all probably waiting on the other end of this wall. They'll attack as soon as we break through. So what I will do is use a rock from around here to deal the final blow to the wall. Once they begin to flood out, you all can use the chance from them coming out to cut them down with ease."

"What if they're too quick for you?" Sain whispered.

"They won't be" Michael stated.

"I don't know if I like this…" Lyn muttered.

"He hasn't made a bad decision yet," Kent pointed out, "I put my trust in Michael's hands."

As if those last words were the end of the discussion, Michael began to scour the ground for any rocks large and thick enough to use on the door. There weren't any nearby and the trek to find one would be counter constructive. Instead, Michael settled on a piece of the wall that Kent had broken off earlier.

As Michael gave the signal for the others to prepare themselves, he smashed the piece of wall in his hand against the remains of the building with as much force as he could muster from his think frame. With a loud crack, the mortar holding the rest of the wall together gave way, as the bricks began to fall all on their own.

As soon as the first brick fell, Michael jumped back out of any harm's way. Coincidentally, an overzealous bandit attempted to take the chance to cleave Michael's head off as soon as the wall gave way.

In a flash, Lyn cut off the bandit's hand, leaving blood spraying onto the wall as the bandit screaming in pain. His days of bandit hood were over, no longer even worth killing.

Meanwhile, Kent and Sain had pulled Michael up to his feet before they ran into the fray as the last of the bandits pummeled the rest of the wall standing in their way as Lyn engaged them.

The bandits were furiously guarding the hole that Kent and Michael had made. However, Lyn, Kent, and Sain were fighting just as hard to gain entrance. Each side was unmoving. The bandits had the upper hand because they didn't need to squeeze in through the hole, while they had all the room to prepare each strike as they saw fit.

As Michael stepped back to observe the fighting, hoping to discover a weak point in the bandits' defenses, a villager caught the corner of his eye. They must've started coming outside after that bandit left. Curiously, Michael turned to their direction. They appeared to be yelling something at him, but Michael couldn't hear. He could however, read their lips.

Michael jumped to the side as quickly as possible as the sound of steel flying through the wind flooded his ear. In his spot was an axe, firmly dug into the ground. The bandit from before was back. He had been tricked. Michael had been tricked. By a common bandit.

"Sorry for missing," The bandit chuckled, "I gotta be careful when 'cutting off the head of the snake', so to speak."

"Sorry for you, this head knows how to roll!" Michael told him as he ran.

'_This head knows how to roll?!" _Michael chastised himself in his head, _'What kind of shitty comeback is that?!' _

On that day Michael learned a valuable lesson about any bandit, no matter how easy Lyn and co. made dispatching them look like, they were still far stronger and better equipped than himself.

And so the dangerous game of cat and mouse began. More often than Michael cared to do, he ducked to the sides randomly an often, hoping to catch the bandit on a near swings and run back towards the others. But no matter where he ran or where he rolled, the bandit took his sweet time.

'_He led me away!' _ Michael realized. In his panic, he had let his fear cloud his mind. A mistake. A mistake that often cost people their lives.

"Gotta hand it to ya, kiddo," The bandit told him, "You're making me work for the kill. I forgot the last time someone tried to run away, and for this long too!"

His laugh filled the air.

He was now a good deal's worth away from the shrine, almost back into town. The others were blurs in the distance. He had to get back. And the only way back was through the bandit.

Taking a deep breath, Michael prepared to do something so stupid and risky, he was about to make Sain look intelligent by comparison.

Michael ran towards the bandit.

A brief flash of surprise flew through the bandit's eyes. That gave Michael the precious second he need to dive through the bandit's legs before his axe flew down once more into the ground.

Running for all he was worth, Michael ran towards the shrine. He could see the others coming into view. They were still locked into combat with the same bandits from before. They would have to retreat for a moment and revise their strategy.

Michael was about to call out towards them when the sound of steel cutting into flesh went through his ears.

A blast of pain ran through his back. Michael looked out towards his back out of the corner of his eye and found the bandit he thought he had left in the dust grinned at him as he finished following through with his slash. Michael felt a liquid running though his cloak.

"Drat," The bandit smiled, "Missed again. The boss always did tell me I didn't have good aim."

Michael fell to the ground in a heap. The pain was intense. But at least he was alive and could feel everything. The blow must've been light, otherwise he could've been cleaved in two.

Another burst of pain shot through him as the bandit took a leisurely slash at his left arm. Michael let out a small grunt in pain.

"Don't hold back on my account," The bandit told him, "Let me hear your screams before I end your misery."

The bandit picked up Michael by the scruff of his neck and showed him the view of the battle in the shrine.

"Them friends of yours are going to bite the big one soon," The bandit whispered into Michael's ear. "And you're gonna watch."

What Michael wouldn't give to spit in the bastard's face.

"MICHAEL!" Michael heard Lyn shout as she looked behind her to see him in the bandit's clutches, her face full of panic.

She took her eyes off the battlefield. The bandit she was fighting hit her over the head with the blunt end of his axe and Lyn fell to her knees.

"LYN!" Michael yelled as he struggled against the grip of the bandit.

"I don't think so!" The bandit said in ager as he dropped Michael and hit him with the back end of his fist.

Michael fell on his knees. A swift kick to the stomach soon followed, taking the air out of his lungs.

"Can't go getting antsy, now" The bandit laughed as Michael tried to suck in air.

Michael craned his head back towards the shrine and saw that Kent and Sain had both locked themselves in combat with the bandits, one of them taking Lyn's after she was knocked down.

But Lyn was nowhere to be seen.

What happened? Was she carried off?

A pit formed in Michael's stomach.

"I think that's enough playing around," The bandit announced, "The boss doesn't like it when we play around on duty."

The bandit placed one of his feet onto Michael's head, keeping him in place.

"I'm just gonna give you a quick haircut," He said, "Just a little off the top…"

He never got to finish that thought.

Out of nowhere, Lyn appeared, her face contorted into a visage of pure anger and malice.

"I DON'T THINK SO!" Michael heard her yell as she stabbed that bandit between the eyes.

She then removed her blade and sliced his head from his neck, blood spraying everywhere, as his head went rolling in the other direction.

"Sorry for the bad cut," Lyn told the bandit's head as it bounced on the ground before rolling away, "But don't worry; it'll grow back."

"Lyn…" Michael coughed.

Bringing her full attention to him, Lyn gingerly picked Michael up in her arms and laid him down onto her lap. "Don't worry," She told him in a gentle voice, her anger from just a moment ago gone without a trace, "He's gone. You're safe now." Her smile was radiant.

As the two enjoyed moment from the violence, Sain and Kent were in a panic. They had just seen Lyn attacked by a bandit. To make matters worse, Michael had been captured by the enemy. It was taking all the willpower within them not to look back and make sure Michael was okay. If they took their eyes off their opponents, their lives could be lost. That would be the biggest dishonor they could ever give to Michael.

"Sain!" Kent called out in anger, "Are you almost done yet?!"

"This guy is giving me more trouble than he's worth!" Sain answered.

Fighting in this thin makeshift entrance was much more difficult than the two had originally thought. Their poor horses were neighing in discomfort as they were both forced to fit in the cramped space.

They had no idea of Michael's or Lyn's conditions. They had seen Lyn go down, but lost sight of her after Kent engaged the enemy that felled her. Meanwhile, for all they knew Michael was dead they were none the wiser. Anger was bubbling up in both of them.

They heard Lyn's angry scream as they continued to fight. Lyn was alive and till fighting! But why was she yelling in such rage?

Michael.

What had happened to Michael?!

"SAIN!" Kent yelled with all of his being, "THESE FLIES DIE NOW!"

"NO NEED TO TELL ME TWICE!" Sain yelled back in response.

In unison, just as they had done during their training together when they were still squires, Kent and Sain synced their movements as they brought down death to the bandits in front of them.

"GET OUT−"! They both yelled in unison,

"OF MY FACE!" Sain raged.

"OF MY WAY!" Kent screamed.

Together, they brought down both of their blades into the skulls of the bandits that were still fighting them. Their bodies fell back with a satisfying crash they pulled out their blades.

Wasting no time, they quickly ran their horses back to where Lyn and Michael were.

Shock ran through them as they saw Lyn cradling Michael's body.

"No…" Kent muttered.

"Is…Is he…?" Sain asked, his voice lost to him before he could finish his question.

"No dead yet…" Michael coughed.

Both of the knights breathed a sigh of relief. But anger was close behind.

"DAMN IT ALL!" Sain yelled, "I SHOULD HAVE ENDED THAT BANIDT BACK WHEN WE FIRST SAW HIM! THAT BASTARD SHOULD'VE DIED WHERE HE STOOD!"

"Sain!" Lyn yelled, "Calm yourself."

"How can I remain calm when Michael lays before us in this state?!" Sain asked, pointing to Michael as if to prove a point.

"Losing yourself to your rage will solve nothing" Kent told him, though there was an obvious hint of anger in his voice as well.

"But it's my fault…" Sain muttered to himself sadly.

"I said I'm not dead yet!" Michael coughed as he tried to pull himself up. But he slammed down against the ground once the pain from his back arched through him once again.

"What's wrong?" Lyn asked him as she turned him around to examine the wound.

The wound went from one end of the small of Michael's back to the other. It was still fresh, blood gently oozing out and dampening his cloak.

"What did he do to you?" Lyn asked.

"Bring out a vulnerary" Kent suggested.

"Where did you put the vulnerary pouch?" Lyn asked Michael gently.

"Under my cloak. Towards my back" Michael told her.

A new wave of panic coursed through the three. He would've kept the pouch right where the wound was. If the medicine inside was destroyed or the bag was dropped…

Shaking away the thoughts running through her head, Lyn pulled up Michael's cloak and began to search though all of his pouches to find it. There was the canteen for his water, a pouch with a locket inside, and a pouch full of seeds. Lyn was beginning to lose hope before she pulled out on last pouch that held the vulnerary inside.

Hope filled her chest as she opened it up, only for it to be quickly dashed.

The vials on top of the pouch were broken, their contents dampening the pouch.

"Dig into it," Kent said, "Maybe one survived."

They were in luck. Only a few of the vials were broken. They had probably saved Michael's life.

Carefully, Lyn raised Michael's head onto her knees and dripped some of the miracle liquid into Michael's mouth, slowly increasing the speed it came out at.

In a minute the wounds were closed up and Michael was sitting up by himself.

"I'm going to need a new cloak…" was the first thing to leave his lips.

"That's all you have to say after that?" Lyn asked, barely concealed anger in her voice.

"Um….yes?" Michael told her.

"As long as you're okay" Lyn relented.

"You're alright," Sain said, tears of happiness streaming down his face, "If you died, I would−I would…" Sain didn't finished his sentence. He collapsed on Michael in a sea of tears, an emotional wreck.

"Glade to see you are well" Kent said, though he was face the opposite direction so no one could see his face and his voice was slightly hoarse.

"But what about you, Lyn?" Michael asked, "I saw that bandit hit you over the head after you saw me. Are you OK?"

"Hm?" Lyn asked, "Actually, that blow didn't hurt. I haven't felt a thing."

Still worried, Michael gently pushed Sain off of him and checked the back of Lyn's head.

A light layer of blood had blanketed her hair.

"Lyn!" Michael gasped, "You're bleeding!"

"I am?" Lyn asked in shock, "Well, it's a good thing I have this!" Lyn took a large sip form the vulnerary still in her hands and shuddered in pain.

"Oh yes, I was hurt!" she whistled as her wounds closed.

"Glad to see you guys are unharmed, at least" Michael told Kent and Sain.

"We were too worried about you to let them hit us" Sain told him, to which Kent nodded his head in agreement, him still facing the other way.

"Well you gu−" Michael lost his train of thought as he quickly jumped up, gaining everyone's attention.

From the hole in the shrine, the leader of the bandits walked over to the group. Michael could sense the anger coursing through his body, his every step filled with anger.

"Stay back," Lyn said as she put her hand in front of Michael, "I'll take him."

"YOU!" Glass yelled, YOU KILLED MY MEN! I HOPE YOU'RE READY FOR A PAINFUL DEATH!"

"There doesn't have to be more death," Lyn tried convincing him, "You have lost your men, and we almost lost one of our own. Do you really want to die here? Would your men−"

"DON'T TALK ABOUT MY MEN AS IF YOU KNEW THEM!" Glass spat in fury.

"So you won't stand down?" Lyn asked.

"ONLY ONCE I'VE CUT YOUR CORPSES INTO A THOUSAND PIECES!" Glass responded.

"So be it…" Lyn replied sadly.

Glass ran at her at full speed, his sword drawn, ready to take Lyn's life in a single swing. As he jumped in the air and brought his sword down, he thought he had won, a grin of triumph overcoming him.

Lyn took a small step to the right and his strike missed its mark.

With a look of disbelief in his eyes, glass bore through Lyn a look of never-ending malice.

With a quick and sharp strike, Lyn severed the tendon in Glass's right wrist.

Glass let out a scream of pain as he dropped his sword. "YOU BITCH!" he yelled.

"You weren't worth killing" Lyn told him coldly as she walked back to the others.

"Not every battle has to end in death, right?" Lyn asked Michael.

Michael shook his head. "Let's go see if the sword is still at the shrine."

As the four walked past Glass, he swore every curse he was worth in between the ragged gasps of pain, but they ignored him. He was no longer a threat.

Once the four walked in, they heard the sound of metal being pounded on, quizzically, Sain opened the door in the back of the shrine and the priest of the shrine fell onto the floor.

"We found the priest" Michael said flatly, obvious to everyone.

Lyn rolled her eyes as she assisted the priest off the floor, "Are you hurt?"

"No," The priest answered, "I am unscathed, thanks to you. Excuse me for asking young miss, but that wouldn't happen to be the clothing of the Lorca tribe, would it?"

"I am Lyn, the chieftain's daughter" Lyn answered.

"I owe you more than I could ever return" The priest went on.

"Is the sword safe as well?" Lyn asked.

"Yes," The priest told her, "I have it safely seal away. Until I remove the spell it cannot be drawn. As a token of my gratitude, please, hold the Mani Katti in your own hands. May you pray for a safe journey. And may the blade bless you."

"Thank you for the kindness" Lyn said to the priest as he took the sword into her hands.

As Lyn closed her hands around the sword, a blinding light flashed in the shrine. It was but for a moment, and it ended just as quickly as it happened.

"What?!" The priest gasped, his mouth hung open.

"The sword…" Lyn gasped, "It's…glowing…"

"The spirits have judged you," The priest whispered in awe, "They have….chosen you as the rightful wielder of the blade!"

"What?!" Lyn asked, "But I couldn't take such a precious object…"

"I'm afraid it is not my place to argue," The priest explained, "The sword has chosen you. It would be ill fit to leave it to its own devices when it has chosen a wielder. But my! To see the chosen wielder of the blade in my lifetime…I am truly blessed."

"But still," Lyn said, "I can't take it!"

"If you need further proof, pull out the sword."

Cautiously, Lyn pulled the Manti Katti from its sheath. The blade was long and thin. The hilt was adorned in gold and looked as if it had just come out from the forge. A blade so old yet so powerful that spirits chose who could wield it. A divine force that could move the world. And it was at the beck and call of Lyn.

"How do you feel?" Michael asked her.

"I feel…" Lyn said, almost as if she was talking to someone far away, "At peace."

"I believe you'd best be on your way," The priest suggested, "You have many more ordeals you must overcome."

"You say that as if you know what will happen" Michael pointed out.

"No," The priest simply stated, "I just know that whomever is chosen by that sword will have trials only that sword could pull them through."

All of them bowed to the priest and proceeded on their way, only to be stopped by Glass.

"I'm…not done with you!" Glass panted as he walked in through the hole in the wall.

Glass pulled out a knife from the inside of his pants and rushed at Lyn.

Lyn, with motions even more fluid than usual, sidestepped the desperate attack, pulled out the Manti Katti, and slashed Glass across the chest. In an expression of disbelief, glass fell to the floor dead.

"Stupid fool…" Lyn muttered, "Did we really have to kill in a sacred place?"

"The building is by no means sacred," The priest chimed in, "It merely housed the Manti Katti. Without it, it is just another building from ages gone by. Do not worry about the dead. I'm sure we'll find someplace to bury them."

With one last look back as the four resumed their travels, a new light had begun to shine on them. A light that would lead to fortune and favor. And a sword that would hold out through even the greatest of tragedies.


	6. Chapter 3: Band of Mercenaries

Chapter 3: Band of Mercenaries

**Author's Notes**: Here it is, the next chapter! Like, review, gush, praise, bash...whatever you crazy people do! =) Enjoy!

Seven days.

Seven days was how long the group had been traveling to their next destination. Seven days of mind-numbing boredom as the group finally enjoyed time not taken over by bandit attacks. Though only Kent and Sain had been traveling with Lyn and Michael for seven days. For the other two, this had been their ninth day. But it was seven days to recount their last battle. Seven days to have the terrifying events of what had happened replay in their minds.

Each member of the four had their own way of staving off boredom, however often it reared its ugly head. But the damnable memories kept resurfacing.

Lyn had taken to doing visual practices to attempt to strengthen her eyesight. She had said more than once during the journey that the eyes were one of the most important assets to any warrior, and that they should take care to refine and forge them just the same as any weapon. Of course, when she tired of that, she would take out the Manti Katti and perform practice swings as they traveled. Though her real training with the blade only started when they stopped to set up camp for the night. She didn't talk about it, but she had never felt fear as gripping as when Michael was in the clutches of that bandit since the day her people were attacked and slaughtered. She believed her own inability had almost cost her Michael's life. If she had just been faster at dispatching that bandit, none of that would have happened. But Michael, spirits bless his soul, had spent a great deal of time trying to convince her that that incident was on account of his lapse of judgment as a tactician. A tactician was to always be prepared. He wasn't. It was a lesson he would take to his heart. Others weren't as lucky as him when it came to learning that lesson. There had been more than one dark night where Lyn awoke from a nightmare as she watched Michael's head hacked from his body and roll to her feet, only to say that she had killed him.

Michael had taken an interest in scanning the terrain of wherever the group happened to be in. After that last brush with bandits, he had become fearful of ever being caught off-guard. He always made sure to check his back more than once just in case. Sain had taken to calling him paranoid more than once. Lyn had taken a blow to her confidence since that incident that Michael had tried time and again to convince her that she was not at fault for what had happened. He had his hands full making Sain see that he wasn't at fault, and Lyn delving into her own self-pity only worsened matters. Whenever they dropped for camp at night, Michael would be sure to find whatever scraps of paper he could gather up and began to write down information concerning everyone's strengths and weaknesses, as well as equipment they brought into battle and temperaments during battle. A tactician must have complete and useful knowledge on every member of their battalion if they want to draw the maximum efficiency from each member. A task that more often than not took away from Michael's sleep schedule.

Kent often times traveled ahead of the group to survey the area they traversed next. While never going too far as to leave the other's sight, he did seem to be a little more eager to prove his worthiness. He told no one, but Sain definitely picked up on what he was thinking from his attitude, but Kent was ashamed at what had transpired back at the shrine. One of the rules drilled into the heads of any knight was that they were to always be aware of their surroundings to the most of minute details. Was he that naïve? Had he grown that complacent since his days as a squire? Those kinds of mistakes would not stand under his watch if he knew he could do something about it. At night, while everyone else was asleep, Kent would wander just a little ways off from camp and begin the practice the exercises he had beaten into him during his years of knighthood training. It brought him a measure of comfort, as well as a feeling of refinement. It made the nights bearable when the thoughts of what could have been crossed his mind.

Sain, who had been uncharacteristically quiet during their travels, had quite possibly been shaken the most from the incident aside from Michael. That moment when Sain lost all composure and screamed at the top of his lungs had be engraved into everyone's hearts. Sain, the man who would never stop flirting, the man who never had a care in the world, the man who was always ready for a laugh, had shown his anger. Michael's brush with the bandit had a profound effect on Sain. This went far further than feeling inadequate as a knight, which Sain knew Kent felt. It sullied the very fabric of Sain's person. To see the danger so close by, but to heed the words of another and let it go by unchecked, only to see it resurface later with terrifying results, was something Sain could not live with allowing to happen. In his tent one night, Sain made a silent vow: that no one else would ever feel the pain of fear if he was up to the task of preventing it. Never again would he allow the faces of any of his comrades be marred by the claws of fear. He would sooner die than let that happen.

As the group made their way into the first town they had come across for days, they all took a collective gasp of shock when they saw the town partially destroyed, some houses still smoldering with the remains of a fire.

"This place…"Lyn uttered, "It's…" the words died in her mouth.

"The area is in ruins," Sain said, "Why does their marquess not send aid?"

"The Taliver Mountains is home to a gang of vicious, ruthless bandits," Lyn explained, "No marquess holds power here."

Upon her divulging that piece of information, Michael's ears perked up. This sounded familiar to something Lyn had told them before they had left together on their journey.

"My village was here, on the other side of the mountains," Lyn continued, her voice breaking, "My people were… The Taliver bandits came at night. It only took them that one night. The survivors numbered less than ten, including myself."

A cold shudder ran through Michael's spine. Kent and Sain had similar expressions of horror on their faces.

"They're soulless beasts. I will never forgive them. Never."

All the group could muster after hearing Lyn's story was a quiet, "Lyndis…" from Sain.

"I am not running away" Lyn told them, though the others all knew it was her making a vow to herself aloud, their just bearing witness to her oath, "I will be back someday…I will be stronger…I will break their swords beneath me like twigs beneath a stallion's hooves. I will avenge my people. I will do everything in my power."

"I'll be there when that time comes," Michael spoke up, giving his own oath to hers.

"Bring me along as well," Sain joined in.

"Don't forget me either," Kent agreed.

"Michael, Sain, Kent…" Lyn said as she closed her eyes, "Thank you."

As the group continued to walk through the desolated town, they heard voices close by. Going on the side of caution, Michael ushered the group to huddle on the other side of the wall where the voices were coming from. Luckily, a small hole in the wall allowed for two members of the group to peek through at a time.

Two bandits were accosting a young girl. The girl couldn't have been more than sixteen years of age. She had the appearance of a delicate doll, thin and light, one you could just brake by holding in your hand.

The girl had bright purple hair, bridging on being almost a shade of grey, tied with ponytails on the front. Her turquois eyes wide with fear. A small, lone green jewel was tied around her forehead. She wore a simple white dress that barely went down to her thighs. The most shocking thing about the girl however, was that she was a Pegasus Knight. Her steed was standing behind her, the bandits occasionally giving it a greedy grin. Their hands were fidgeting with the handles of their axes.

"Wait right there, lady!" One of the bandits told her. He was maybe a little too round to be a bandit. "What are you going to do to apologize, huh?"

"Uh…I…That is…" The girl stuttered. She appeared to be absolutely petrified.

"She's quite the catch, huh buddy?" The other bandit said, "I bet the boss would give us a pretty penny for her."

"Yeah!" The round bandit agreed, a wide grin appearing on his face, "After all, she roughed me up a bit. I figure fair's fair. It's more than she deserves."

"I…I…" The girl stammered. She looked like she was about to burst into tears.

"What are we going to do with her flying mule, though?" The other bandit asked.

"DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH HER!" The girl yelled.

Behind the wall, Michael fell onto his rear. The girl's yell had come completely out of nowhere. Looking at the others, even Kent and Sain, two trained knights, jumped a little. Though Lyn, wasn't taken aback, she had glued herself to the hole in the wall, her frown of worry appearing once again.

"What?!" The bandit asked, "Girlie, you better learn to watch your mouth!"

"Do what you want with me," The girl told them, her sudden courage not waning, "Just…Let her go. Please. I beg of you."

"Hahaha!" The round bandit laughed, "You silly twit! Pegasi can only be found in Ilia. They're rare beasts. Worth more than you by far. We can sell it for a mountain of gold! Let it go?! HA!"

"No, you can't!" The girl said in terror.

"C'mon!" The round bandit commanded her, "Get moving!"

"Those bastards," Lyn let out.

"Lyn…" Michael said, "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to save her, what does it look like?!"

"Not that I don't agree," Michael tried to explain, his arms outstretched in an attempt to keep Lyn from running off before he was finished, "But we need to−"

But Lyn had already ran around the corner of the wall to where the girl and bandits were.

"−make a plan, first…" His hands still outstretched as he let his head fall. Michael let out a sigh.

"Should we follow?" Kent asked.

Michael nodded, not bothering to pick his head up.

"Is that you, Florina?" Lyn asked as she ran towards the girl.

"Lyn?" The girl perked up as Lyn drew close.

"What are you doing in a place like this?" Lyn asked her, paying the bandits no mind.

"Lyn!" Florina cried as she ran into Lyn's arms sobbing, "I…I…"

"Come now," Lyn scolded her kindly, "No crying!"

"Sorry" Florina apologized.

"An acquaintance, I presume?" Kent asked as he tapped Lyn's shoulder.

"She's a friend," Lyn explained, "This is Florina, a Pegasus Knight in training from Ilia. She's…a little uncomfortable around men."

As if to prove her point, Florina was cowering behind Lyn's back while Lyn explained everything to the others.

Michael made a lazy scan of their current group, a sarcastic tone overtaking him, "This will in no doubt be a problem in any way…"

Lyn gave Michael a look before returning her attention to Florina, "Tell me what happened."

"Well," Florina began, "When I heard you had left your village, I decided to follow you. Then I saw this village. I flew down to ask if they had news of you...but, I didn't see these two…"

"You landed your Pegasus on them?" Lyn guessed.

"Just a little bit…" Florina winced.

"I like her already," Michael added.

"Ha," The other bandit from before barged in, "You heard it! Right from the horse's mouth herself! She fell on my friend and now she has to pay the price!"

"Did you apologize, Florina?" Lyn asked, just like a mother would chastise her children after they had done something wrong.

"Yes," Florina told her, "Many times over. Until I was blue in the face. But they wouldn't listen..."

"Keep calm," Lyn ordered her, 'It's all right."

Lyn turned her attention towards the bandits, "Can we not just let this incident pass? Neither of you appear to be injured in the slightest."

"No chance," The round bandit told Lyn, "That girl is coming with us—by force if need be!"

Before Lyn could give a reply, the bandits ran into an alleyway as they yelled an order, "Come on out now, boys! Those men are fair game! But not one hair on the girls is to be touched!"

"Perfect…" Michael sighed.

"Can we not go through one town without violence?" Kent asked.

"At least we live interesting lives…" Sain mused.

"You can fight, right?" Lyn asked Florina.

"Yes!" Florina told her.

"Now comes the awkward part…"Michael muttered.

"What do you mean?" Lyn asked.

"Florina," Michael addressed her, "Would you mind taking me on a quick trip in the air so I might ascertain the enemy's numbers?"

"Huh?!" Florina gasped in fear.

"Please, Lyn," Michael begged her, "Can you convince Florina to go through with it? With the walls everywhere, going on horseback isn't a safe option this time. Florina is our best bet to a sound strategy."

"Florina," Lyn said lightly as she put her hands on Florina's shoulders, "I know I am asking a lot with your fear of men, but please, let Michael ride on your Pegasus. I know him. He is as great a tactician as they come. The only reason he asks is because he thinks it's our best bet. As soon as he's gotten a look he'll ask you to take him back down. He's harmless. Let your Pegasus be the final judge if need be."

As Lyn tried to convince Florina to allow Michael to fly on her Pegasus, Florina's eyes became filled with fear. Michael let out a silent sigh as he saw the fear in her eyes. It looked like that plan would have to be abandoned.

"Never mind," Michael told Lyn, the disappointment almost palpable in his voice, "We'll just throw caution to the wind and hope to catch them off-guard."

Kent and Sain had already gotten ready to charge forward down the alleyway after the bandits.

"W-wait!" Florina yelped.

Michael turned toward Florina, "Yes?"

"I'll…do it. I'll take you into the air."

Michael was silent for a brief second, letting the news sink in, "Thank you," He told Florina with a smile.

"Just let me prepare Huey, first" Florina requested.

"With all do haste. The enemy won't stay patient for long," Michael pointed out.

"I'll make sure we guard any entry points while you are gone," Lyn told him as she went to talk to Kent and Sain.

It was a few minutes that felt like an eternity for Michael, but Florina was very efficient with preparing her Pegasus. Good too, because one impatient bandit had tried to muscle his way through to the group. A quick jab with Sain's spear made him take a hasty retreat, a wise decision on his part.

As Florina mounted Huey, she ushered Michael to hop on. Not being familiar with mounts, Pegasi especially, Michael had to ask for instruction from Florina before progressing. The last thing Michael wanted was for him to fall off once they had become airborne because his leg was just out of place.

After the instruction given to him by Florina, Michael jumped onto Huey and took off into the sky.

With the new bird's eye view that Michael could exploit, he found that there were eight enemies in all that their group would have to battle. However, there was some troubling news. They had archers.

At that very moment, Michael as thankful to have sharp eyes, because the archer closest to them, barely several feet from the wall where the group once spied on the bandits harassing Florina, shot an arrow.

"Move!" Michael yelled as Florina jerked the reins of her Pegasus to make a sharp left.

The sound of an arrow flew by Michael's right ear. Michael looked back and saw that the arrow was aimed right where Huey's head used to be.

"What are you doing, you blind idiot?!" The round bandit called out, "Don't shoot that damned horse! You know how much money we'll lose if we lose one of the girls and a Pegasus?!"

At least they wouldn't have to worry about Florina being shot out of the most likely.

"But sir! How else are we supposed to subdue her?"

"Shoot her while she's on the ground!"

There goes that ray of hope.

"Take us back down!" Michael told Florina.

With a nod, Florina brought them both expertly down to the ground.

Michael was in a hurry to relay the information he had learn. However, in his haste, he fell off of Huey. Much to the protest to his backside.

'_I have to stop doing that,'_ Michael thought.

"What are we up against?" Kent asked as he offered Michael an arm to pull him up.

"We're up against eight bandits," Michael relayed, "But two of them are archers. We'll be hard-pressed to attack them without some form of retaliation from them while we close the distance. I say we'll need some…'creative' tactics to get them."

"Archers…"Sain mused, "How lovely it would be to have our own to take care of them."

"If only," Michael agreed. "Hang on," Michael said as he looked around, "Where's Lyn?"

"She went to talk to the people in that house over there," Sain said as he pointed to a rather large house down the road.

"What was she doing?" Michael asked.

"She was attempting to gather some intelligence on the enemy," Kent informed him, "I believe she said she wanted to impress you with what she learned."

"T-there she is!" Florina stuttered as Lyn came running back, a young man right behind her.

"Michael! Florina!" Lyn called, "Back already? That was quick!"

"Who's the guy?" Michael asked.

"Wil's the name," The young man introduced himself.

Wil looked to be around Lyn's height. He had short brown hair with eyes to match. He had a grin on his face that seemed to be painted on. He wore a plain blue shirt with white pants and leather boots. He had no armor save for a shoulder guard on his left shoulder and a piece of plating over the left side of his chest. He didn't appear to have a sword, lance or axe on his person.

"Can you fight, Sir Wil?" Kent asked, saving Michael the trouble of asking himself.

"Not directly, but I can use a bow," Wil smiled at them.

Michael gave a look to Sain as a wide grin appeared on his face.

"What?" Wil asked as he saw Michael's expression.

"Ask and you shall receive," Sain muttered to himself happily.

"Wil," Michael began, "Have I got a job for you!"

"Who are you?" Wil asked.

"Can the introductions wait until later?" Kent asked as he guarded the path they came from, "The enemies could have surrounded us by now."

"You heard the man!" Michael told Wil.

"Florina," Lyn asked as she gave a worried look, "Why are you shivering like that? Did I push you too hard with flying Michael?"

"A-a-a-archer…" Florina stuttered.

"What's wrong?" Wil asked as everyone except Kent looked at him.

"Archer," Michael stated, "A Pegasus Knight's worst nightmare."

"Oh," Wil said, as if it didn't bother him in the slightest, "Don't you worry at all, I'm an ally. You won't have to worry about me shooting you out of the sky!" He was a bit too cheery about that last part.

Florina still looked unsure. If anything, she looked even worse before Wil opened his mouth.

"Will…" Michael said, "I don't think you're helping…"

"I'll prove I'm helpful," Wil said, though mostly to Florina.

"How?" Lyn asked.

"Like this—" Will told her as he pulled out his bow with amazing speed, pulled a bow from his quiver, nocked it into place, and shot off the arrow through the hole in the wall.

A yelp was heard as the sound of a loud thud grabbed everyone's attention.

"Do you trust me now?" Wil asked Florina.

Florina very quickly nodded her head. Michael assumed that Florina was just doing that to get Wil to put his bow down.

"The enemy is down one archer," Kent reported upon inspecting the body.

"One down, seven to go!" Michael said.

"Speaking of which," Lyn said as she crossed her arms and rested her chin on her hand, "The villagers told me that there were three sword wielders amongst the enemy. Apparently they've been terrorizing this area for a while."

"This has been easier than I thought," Michael mused. "Hey Sain! Remember when you said a lance was a heroic weapon for a knight? Guess what you get to use?!"

Kent let out a groan as Sain's face light up.

"If I remember rightly," Michael began to ponder, "The last archer was out in the open with one of the bandits guarding his rear. Then right across from us is another bandit. Then there was another across from him towards the archer. There was also two men guarding the armor shop. They probably don't want us to equip ourselves with better gear if they can manage it. Then there's the two guys from before along with someone else guarding them."

"Those two men we met earlier both had axes on their persons," Kent remembered.

"So then most likely," Michael went on from his train of thought, "Most of the enemies closest to us are the sword wielders."

"My lance's reach will be perfect for dealing with them," Sain said, eager to finally let his lance see some true combat.

"M-my lance will also be useful…" Florina stuttered, almost at a whisper.

"Then Kent an Lyn can take care of the axe wielding bandits as well as some of the sword wielders if need be." Michael finished.

"What about me?" Wil asked.

"You'll be taking down that last archer," Michael informed him. "Here's how this plan is going to work," He began, everyone's attention immediately focused on him, "Wil is going to be posing as bait to lure in some of the enemies closer to us. Meanwhile, Florina will fly over the wall and engage the enemy sword wielder and take him by surprise. While Wil to luring in the enemies that chase him, Lyn and Kent will pick them off. Sain, if one of them is a sword wielder, you can take them on yourself while Lyn and Kent double-team the other."

"What of the other archer?" Kent inquired.

"Simple," Michael smiled, "Since he's out in the open, he won't be trying to draw attention to himself, so he'll only be taking shots he knows he can make. We'll use that information to our advantage as we bait his cover over to us. Wil can take his time aiming his shot if no one is coming after him."

"Shouldn't I just shoot all of them?" Wil asked.

"How confident are you with your aim that you can easily reproduce what you did to that last archer?" Michael asked.

"Good point" Wil told him.

"So we have the first step of the plan down?" Lyn made sure.

Everyone nodded.

"Then let's get to work!" Lyn shouted. Everyone roared in agreement.

The plan was surprisingly more successful than Michael had hoped. The minute Wil sent his first arrows over to the bandits guarding the armory, they immediately left their positions to chase after him. Unluckily for them, Sain, with his lance and Lyn and Kent's deadly precision with their blades sealed their fate before they realized that they had been tricked.

The enemy archer had seen his comrades run in, but he didn't move from his position to assist them. A wise move. But it was most likely the work of a coward's legs stopping him from moving out of fear.

Florina was equally successful with her battle with the sword wielder. Though it only took him a moment to get over the shock of being attacked by a Pegasus Knight, he could not hope to close the distance to properly attack whenever Florina took to the sky to dodge his attacks. The battle ended one-sidedly in Florina's favor.

"Glass's group gave us more trouble," Michael said with a knitted brow. "This is too easy."

"Don't go jinxing us now, my good man!" Sain yelled, "It's almost like you want a challenge!"

"True," Michael winced, "Best not look a gift horse in the mouth."

"Next part of the plan?" Lyn asked, her eyes once again looking at him expectantly.

A loud yell filled the air as Wil came rushing back towards them.

"Archer's dead!" Wil announced, "Though his buddy's on the way. Would've been able to give you some more time, but my shot missed and hit his bow arm instead of his chest. Got him on the second shot, though! Right in the head!"

With that, Wil ran back behind the group a bandit wielding an axe came rushing towards them.

"As far as the next part of the plan goes," Michael began, "Well…I don't think I have to tell you that."

The poor bandit didn't have a chance as he was run through by three blades at once from Lyn, Kent and Sain.

"All that's left now is three axe and one sword wielder," Michael told the group, "Which leads me to the next part of the plan I had. I need to apologize to you in advance, Florina."

"W-w-why?" Florina stuttered.

"Because you're going to be flying Wil over the wall so he can shoot that bandit over there."

"Huh?!" Wil and Florina both said in unison.

"An archer always runs the risk of being overwhelmed on land," Michael explained, "But in the air, an archer can go almost unopposed."

"B-b-but…I-I-I-I…" Florina stuttered again, the fear in her eyes back in full force.

"Florina," Lyn said as she grabbed her shoulders lightly, "There are no other archers besides Wil. You'll be perfectly safe."

Florina thought about it for a time. In all honesty, Michael didn't need to have Florina ferry Wil over. He just wanted to get the job of dealing with that bandit done more efficiently.

"O-ok!" Florina said at last.

"Hope you know how to ride a horse," Sain whispered to Wil, "Otherwise it'll chaff later."

"I'll think I'll manage," Wil smiled, though he didn't look so sure of himself.

What would later be described as Wil's first ever Pegasus run would never be discussed amongst the group as a personal favor to Wil. The only thing that would ever be said was that no one man should ever go through such a humiliating ordeal in his life. They all swore an oath that they would rather die than repeat what happened that day. In fact, everyone wiped that memory from their minds as soon as they could, lest the events of what happened that day ever be told.

"G-good work guys!" Michael congratulated them as they came back from killing the bandit.

"What happened here…WILL NEVER BE TOLD, GOT IT?!" Wil asked through gritted teeth.

"I haven't the foggiest idea what you mean," Sain said, catching on quickly.

"I-I was too b-busy flying to notice," Florina said truthfully.

"Let's just make our way to the rest of the bandits," Lyn suggested as everyone began to move out into the wider streets now that the bandits had been cleared away for the most part.

Three bandits remained: a sword wielder and the two axe users from earlier. If they were as skilled as the other bandits, then this battle would soon reach its end.

Out of both rage and fear, the final sword wielder charged at the group in a suicidal rampage. Sain, with his trusty lance, quickly skewered him. The other bandits were within viewing distance of the incident. They made a good show of not expressing their fear, but Michael believed that they could hear death knocking at their doors.

"Bah!" The other bandit from earlier said as the group slowly approached, "Those men weren't worth half the gold they were paid! Oh well, if you want something done right…"

He, just like the sword wielder, charged at their location.

"Wil, if you'd please?" Michael asked as Wil nocked one last arrow and carefully aimed it at the bandit's skull, where it quickly became attached to its now home.

"Not going to lie," Michael voiced to the others, "It seems like we're the bandits right now, just killing them without any empathy."

"We are nothing like them," Lyn cut in, "We will never be like them."

As they all approached the last bandit, the round one from earlier, he yelled at them in a bloody war cry, "Draw your swords! I'll not be having anymore apologies!"

"I have something to ask of you," Lyn addressed him.

"Begging for your life?" The round bandit assumed, though by this point he must have known that any chance of winning he had died with his men.

"Are you…Taliver Bandits?" Lyn asked.

"Taliver?!" The round bandit repeated in shock, "Those monsters?! We're nothing like those walking devils! They'll kill even women and children! No. We're from Ganelon. And we know of a little something called honor. After all, why kill women and children if you can sell them for a pretty piece of gold?"

"…If you're not Taliver," Lyn told the bandit, "You can leave now with your tail between your legs. You can live to see another day."

She was giving the bandit a final chance to exercise the better half of valor. But would the man be an idiot, or would he see sense?

"Run with my tail between my legs?!" The round bandit repeated, "Just for that I'll make your death a painful one!"

He had chosen to be an idiot.

"So be it…" Lyn muttered, "You wouldn't be the first to ignore my attempt to let you live…"

Lyn pulled out her Manti Katti, which she hadn't used in combat since the day she killed Glass.

As the bandit charged at Lyn, she skillfully dodged his swing before he had even brought down his axe, and delivered a swift strike down across his chest.

The bandit dropped his weapon in surprise and pain, "My brothers…won't let this stand…" He choked, as Lyn delivered the killing blow: a stab through the heart. The bandit was no more, and fell to the ground.

"Looks like this business is finally over" Lyn sighed as she removed the blade from the bandit's body.

"Your movements seem a lot lighter when you wield that blade," Michael noticed, "Why not use it for every battle from now on?"

Lyn shook her head, "It's not a blade I should use unless the need is great enough. Today I just wanted to end the bloodshed."

The villagers in hiding had come out and were beginning to rejoice in their new found freedom. People, once too scared to come out of their houses, were flooding the streets en masse and were thanking their new heroes. Everyone lost each other in the crowds as people lined up around them all to express their gratitude.

It wasn't for another hour before the group was able to meet up again.

"Lyn?" Florina asked once the group had gotten back together.

"Yes, Florina?"

"Do you remember the knighting ceremony of the Pegasus Knights of Ilia?"

"Yes, you join a band of freelance soldiers in order to further your training," Lyn told her, "Is that what brought you here?"

Florina nodded in affirmation. "I wanted to talk to you before setting out. But when I went to Sacae, I heard you had left with some strangers, and…"

"You were worried?" Lyn guessed, "Thank you, that's sweet but I'm more worried about you."

"Me?!" Florina asked.

"Bands of mercenaries are mostly made of men," Lyn explained, "Lots of men. I can't imagine you being comfortable around those kinds of groups at all."

"Of course I know, but I want to be a Pegasus Knight so much that I'm willing to overcome my…aversion. But after today…I don't know…" Tears were welling up in Florina's eyes.

"I believe it's time to run some interference," Sain whispered to Michael.

"Don't need to tell me twice," Michael whispered back.

"There's no need to cry. Everything will work out!"

"He's right!" Wil chimed in.

"Lady Florina," Sain jumped in, "I have just been stricken with the greatest of ideas! Why not travel with us? With Wil here are a fine bunch of soldiers, freelance to boot!"

Wait, I'm getting involved in this?" Wil asked, "Though truth be told I'm pretty much flat broke…"

"Our Lyndis's Legion is the greatest company you could ever find!" Sain kept going.

"Sain!" Kent scolded, "Must you go so far as to make up a name as ridiculous as that?!"

"Lyndis? Mercenaries?" Florina asked, Michael could practically see her head fuming from trying to process everything.

"It's a long story," Lyn told her, "I'll tell you later. But will you travel with us? Sain did have the right idea."

"Travel…? With you…?" Florina asked in shock, "Yes! Oh, yes! It would be my honor!"

"Fantastic!" Sain jumped in once again, "I am a knight from Caelin my lovely Florina! Let me have the honor of fighting—"

"Eek!" Get away from me!" Florina yelled as she recoiled in shock.

There was an audible sound as Michael's hand collided with his forehead, 'Did we not establish earlier that she was afraid of men?"

As the group finished up their conversation, a merchant from the armory approached Michael.

"Excuse me, young sir?" The merchant asked.

"Yes?" Michael asked as he turned to face the man.

"Pardon my distracting you from your friends, but are you not the young man I met in Araphen some years ago? The one who helped me with my wares?"

Michael froze as the words pelted his skin like ice, "I'm afraid you've confused me for someone else."

"Ah," The merchant said, "Forgive me then. You bear a striking resemblance to that young man. But still, as a token of thanks for ridding this town of those infernal bandits, please allow me to bestow upon your group some weapons and any other supplies you might need."

"That's…very generous of you" Michael managed to say.

"What's the matter?" Lyn asked as she made her way over to him.

"This merchant wants to give us some supplies as a thank you" Michael explained.

"You do?! How generous!"

"Please milady," The merchant bowed, "It is the least I could do since you saved my town and my business."

"If we're accepting your generous hospitality," Michael began as he thought of what the group could need, "We could use some spare tents. Two could do. I don't think we should camp out under stars when we have two more people with us. Not to mention Kent and Sain already have their own tents."

"I shall inform one of the shop keeper and see they can find the some spare that they can part with," The merchant told them, "In the meantime, I shall prepare my thank you as well. If you'll excuse me…"

"What did that man want?" Kent asked as the two walked back to the others.

"That merchant is thanking us with some weapons and supplies" Lyn told him.

"I hope to get a new sword!" Sain hoped aloud, "This one is beginning to dull…"

"Speak for yourself," Kent huffed, "All I have left IS my sword. My poor lance is in tatters…"

"We'll see what he gives us and if it isn't enough we can buy the rest" Michael laughed.

In a few short minutes the merchant was back, "I just spoke with the shop keeper and he'll be more than pleased to part with some miscellaneous tents. And here is my gift to you as well…"

Michael's jaw dropped when he laid his eyes on what the merchant laid out before them. From the looks on everyone else's face, they were equally, if not more shocked than him.

There, rolled out on a tapestry, were three silver swords, two silver lances, three steel lances, and one steel bow.

"This isn't a gift…" Kent let out breathlessly, "This is a whole armory."

The merchant let out a hearty laugh, "Believe me, with how long these bandits have been around, my supplies have stockpiled. You're doing me more of a favor by taking these weapons before they rust up! I've also taken the liberty of packing your tents in these bags for you as well…"

"I think we'll be set for a while," Wil said with a grin.

"You have no idea," Michael agreed.

**Author's Notes: **Oooooohhhhhhhh, foreshadowing! What past does our friend Michael have?

... You'll just have to wait and find out! =D


	7. Interlude 3: Memories, Laughs, and Bees

Interlude 3: Memories, Laughs, and Bee Stings

**Author's Notes: **Gonna be honest right here, it kinda felt forced at towards the end. Don't get me wrong, I really got fired up when I started to write this! Guess I don't really have a solid grasp on Florina's character as well as what I want to turn her into. Oh well, with every failures comes the knowledge on how to do better.

As always, enjoy the chapter guys! =D

As the now group of seven traveled along some of the last stretches of countryside before crossing the mountains, Michael couldn't help but feel envious of Lyn.

Lyn had the sole honor of being Florina's passenger as they flew Huey in the skies. Meanwhile, Michael was stuck on Kent's horse while Wil traveled on Sain's.

"You think they have to worry about bugs flying into their teeth?" Michael wondered aloud as he saw Huey fly right over them at a fast pace.

"I'd hazard a guess and say they do" Sain responded.

"Don't even bring up the idea of flying…"Wil groaned as his face became a slight shade of green.

"You don't look very well, Sir Wil," Kent noted, "Would you like us to stop and rest for a while?"

Wil shook his head, "No. I'll be fine in a few minutes."

No one in the group dared bring up the incident that occurred in the town near the Taliver Mountains.

Michael looked up again to see Huey performing some aerial gymnastics that all but convinced him that either Florina or Lyn were rubbing it in the men's faces that they couldn't enjoy the pleasure of flight.

"They've got to be doing that on purpose!" Michael yelled in annoyance.

"It does look rather fun…" Sain said wistfully.

"My horse is more than enough for me, thank you" Kent said as he ignored the antics that Huey was engaging in.

"If you think about it," Wil began, his face now more of a healthy complexion, "Flying a Pegasus isn't as great as it could be."

"How so?" Michael asked, genuinely curious about what Wil had to say.

"If it's raining or storming out, you can't ride the Pegasus at all because of limited visibility. And if there are enemy archers or wind mages, you're a…'flying?' duck out in the open."

"That's a good point, Wil" Michael commended.

"Thanks" Wil said. "Though truth be told, I've been thinking about the pros and cons for the last two hours…It gets boring fast when you're the passenger on a horse."

"By all means," Sain told him, "Feel free to take the reins at any time."

"I'd take you up on the offer," Wil told Sain with a smile, "But I'd probably end up crashing us into a tree…or make us fall off a cliff."

"I think I should keep the reins in my hands," Sain decided, "Remind me to carry Michael next time we begin traveling..."

Meanwhile, as the boys were doing their best to preoccupy themselves from the boredoms of travel, Lyn was recounting every last detail of their exploits to Florina. The way she handled Huey at times gave away however she felt about certain events. Huey's random spurts of gymnastics served as proof of Florina's excitement and shock as her arms pulled the reins in odd angles that obviously didn't do well for Lyn, who frequently had to grab onto Florina to avoid falling to the ground.

"Wow…"Florina breathed as Lyn recounted the last bit of her tale.

"'Wow' is an understatement, but definitely a word I would use to describe our situation" Lyn chuckled.

"So you're royalty now," Florina said in disbelief, "Wait...if you're royalty, shouldn't I be addressing you properly? Oh, I'm so sorry Lady Lyndis, please forgive my rudeness!"

Florina was trying her best to bow and to apologize as many times as possible while forgetting that they were still flying on Huey. The resulting summersault in midair most definitely served as entertainment for the boys riding underneath and behind them. Lyn hoped her robes weren't fluttering in the breeze, though she was sure Michael would've tried to inform her by now if they were.

"Florina," Lyn told her after she removed herself from her when Florina pulled Huey back into a straight flight, "I'm no noble yet. And besides, you are one of my dearest friends, I don't care want there to be any distance between us. Besides, I've no love for formalities."

"…Okay" Florina told her after a brief moment of silence. "But you've only been traveling for barely more than a week and you've already done so much. And Michael seems to know so much about all of you."

Lyn let out a laugh as she remembered how Michael almost perfectly directed all of them to victory after victory with no casualties. His ability truly was a blessing. "He does have a way with his tactics. He always comes up with a plan without fail. I'm lucky to have him."

"You trust him a lot" Florina noted.

"Yeah," Lyn agreed, "He saved me from the suffocating loneliness of the plains. When he helped me rid my home of those bandits that day, I felt hope for the first time in I don't know how long. With him, I feel I can grow strong, not just to avenge my people, but become a stronger person as well. For that, I will always give him my undying trust and friendship."

There was a long silence as Florina absorbed the information Lyn had divulged in.

"I'm jealous" Florina said after a time, a tinge of sadness in her voice.

"Why would you be?" Lyn asked, taken aback by Florina sudden sad tone.

"When you were alone and needed help, I wasn't there," Florina began to explain, "But then Michael comes out of nowhere and saves you. Even if you saved him first by bringing him to your tent when he was unconscious, he returned the favor when you went to fight. In just one short day, he earned your undying trust. It reminds me of when you saved me from those bees after I fell onto their tree after losing control of Huey."

"I remember that!" Lyn said as she began to reminisce, "The bees were swarming you and Huey was circling the tree like a wild stallion. I remember climbing the tree and forcing you to jump into the nearby river with me while we waited for the bees to leave. Poor you, you were covered in stings. How long did it take for those to go away again?"

"…A week" Florina replied weakly, shivering as the memories came rushing back. "But I was happy because I made a friend. A good friend at that."

"Thank you, Florina," Lyn told her, "I feel the same way."

Florina shook her head. "Our friendship is on different levels. Not that that's a bad thing!" Florina added as Lyn was about to object, "It's just that I regard you like an older sister while you think of me as a friend. With Michael…it's different. There's something there that could never exist for me. I have some ideas on what it could be, but it's not my place to say. I could be wrong for all I know."

"What do you mean?" Lyn asked, curious to what her friend was leaving out.

"Nothing" Florina assured her as she turned her head to concentrate on flying.

"Florina…" Lyn said sadly as she put her arm on Florina's shoulder.

"I'm not sad or anything," Florina told her as she continued to look forward, "I happy to meet up with again. But tell you what, I'll make sure myself if what I think is right. If it is, I'll gladly tell you. Because seeing you happy make me happy too."

"I wished I knew what you were talking about" Lyn sighed.

Florina let out a small laugh, "If it is what I think it is, I'll be feeling bad for Michael!"

"Just tell me already!" Lyn yelled as she began to tickle Florina.

"Hahahaha! L-L-Lyn, p-please!" Florina laughed, "I-I-I'm trying t-t-to fly!"

Luckily there was a soft tree for the two to and in as Huey spun around and the two laughing girls fell out of the sky.

"I think that's enough flying for one day!" Michael said partially out of annoyance as they all rode over to check on whether the girls were alright or not.

"Glad to know I'm not the only one that falls off those things…" Wil muttered under his breath.

**Author's Notes: **Darn title space! They won't let me put in the full title for this chapter! =C Oh well.


	8. Chapter 4: In Occupation's Shadow

Chapter 4: In Occupation's Shadow

**Author's Notes: **Can't believe I got this done almost in one sitting. And in four hours to boot! I thought this would be longer, but I am happy with the results. I've noticed I've been taking more liberties with the characters as of this chapter. Is that a good sign for originality?

After two days of traveling since the group's run-in with the Ganelon bandits, they manage to come across some ruins near a small village.

The ruins are covered in moss and ivy. The roof which once covered this once majestic building has caved in, with half of the building unprotected from the elements. The brick that may have once been red has dulled to a very light brown from decades of disuse and weathering from the elements. Pillars which once helped support the building litter the floor. Though the sun's rays gently illuminate the ruins and still give it some semblance of beauty, no one can disagree that the building has a somber tone akin to it. If this building had a soul, it would be eternally weeping for the past it once had; people always being near, and its beauty once again eye-catching.

"This seems like a good place to set up camp for tonight," Wil smiled as he looked over the ruins.

"This mildewy old fortress?" Sain asked in disgust, "Is this truly the best we can do?! Come now Wil, surely this is a jest!"

"You want something better, be my guest and keep looking," Wil told him, "The bandits don't exactly keep things in the greatest of conditions…"

"Then some bandits happen to have brains" Michael added.

"How so?" Kent asked.

"If things are kept in constant disrepair," Michael began, "People can't take up arms and fight back. Rebuilding what they lose before the stormy or winter season matters more than kicking out some bandits that will just be replaced by others."

"Rare for you to praise the enemy," Lyn noted, "Especially bandits."

Michael noticed the certain undertone of anger in her voice, "I'm not complimenting them, I'm just giving credit where it's due as a strategist. I don't think an area with people always fighting bandits is profitable for the bandits. Want to break a man so you can do whatever you want? Destroy his spirit. Kill his resolve. That's how wars are one. Proving you have absolute power. Proving you can grind all your opponent holds dear in dust."

Florina gave Michael a surprised look.

"That's quite the dark perspective you have there" Sain noted.

"It's called being realistic" Michael corrected him.

"Disregarding that," Wil said as he turned the conversation back to its original point, "There won't be many villages catering to travelers. Besides, there's a good number of us anyway. Most inns here would be filled with just four of us."

"It's better this way," Lyn told everyone, "Who wants to be stuck inside when you have the great outdoors? I must prefer having the wind blow on my face than the stale air of a small room."

"As long as Lyn's happy, I'm happy too!" Florina perked up.

"Have nothing to fear with your personal bodyguard!" Sain boasted, "I shall make sure to watch you both as closely as possible!"

"Sain," Kent began, stopping his friend's plan before it could even get off the ground, "Both you and I will be alternating watch duty tonight. You'll have no time to be watching anything aside from the clearing."

"Foiled again…" Sain muttered.

With the sun's ray ever slowly receding for the night, the group wasted no time cramming themselves into the ruined building. Though it looked small from the outside, it was quite spacious, considering there were seven of them. At lead they would all have enough room to sleep comfortably tonight.

Kent immediately positioned himself outside what could have only been the original entrance to the building. If it had a door, it has long since be destroyed or stolen. Sain begrudgingly followed him before stopping at the passageway leading from the door to the room where the rest of the group were currently at.

"With any strange building, we'd best to search for any…unpleasant surprises" Michael said warily.

"This building? What could we find?" Wil asked.

"Bodies" Michael simply told him.

Florina looked like she was about to faint on the very spot she stood. Huey was the only thing keeping her from buckling at the knees.

"Perhaps I should have worded that better" Michael said in an apologetic tone as he tried to assist Florina gently off the ground.

"N-n-n-no need to c-c-come over h-h-here!" Florina stuttered.

Lyn sighed as she helped Florina to her feet. "Michael has a good point. Florina, go check the west wing of the building. Wil, the east. Michael and I shall investigate the inner room."

Florina and Wil nodded as they each when their separate ways.

"How do you always get her to calm down?" Michael asked in wonder as Florina slipped by the corner.

"Nothing special," Lyn told him. "She just knows I mean her no harm and I have the best intentions for her."

"Perhaps I'll learn someday…" Michael hoped aloud with a weak smile.

"Men…" Lyn muttered as she began walking.

"What'd I do THIS time?" Michael asked as he followed.

"Your pardon, milady…"A voice echoed as the two stopped in their tracks.

"Who's there?" Lyn asked cautiously as she put an arm protectively in front of Michael.

"I…Forgive my intrusion…"The voice said as the person came out of hiding.

It was a lone woman. She looked to be in her mid-twenties. Her hair was long and light brown, kept together by a single ponytail. All she wore was a simple turquoise gown. Her brown eyes had a solemn look to them.

"My name is Natalie," The woman introduced herself, "I'm from a village not far from here…Ah! Ow…"

Natalie grunted in pain as her hand slowly grabbed her left leg.

"Are you alright?" Lyn asked in concern.

"Your leg," Michael said immediately as her followed Natalie's hand, "Are you injured?'

"It's fine," Natalie way away their concern, "It's from a childhood sickness…I can't travel far on it, but it doesn't give me much trouble."

"What are you doing so far from home all by yourself?" Lyn asked.

"Even if it doesn't bother you that much, there are still bandits plaguing the area" Michael said.

"I'm looking for my husband…"Natalie told them, "I heard he was in there area. He said he was going to raise money to get my leg mended."

"I have a bad feeling" Michael whispered to Lyn.

"He left the village some time ago and still hasn't returned," Natalie said continued, "He's a kindhearted man, but I think he might be involved in something dangerous."

"My internal alarms are blaring right now" Michael whispered again.

"Shut it!" Lyn whispered back as she elbowed him in the ribs.

"I'm so worried for his safety," Natalie continued, unaware of the conversation occurring between Lyn and Michael, "Here's a sketch of him. It's a poor likeness at best, but…"

Natalie handed Lyn a drawing of her husband.

In the drawing was a muscular man with somewhat long hair. He had a goatee and had squinted eyes. It was hard to distinguish more of his features because of the quality of the picture. Whomever drew this knew they weren't an artist and wasn't trying to be one. However, it did get the general appearance of Natalie's husband down.

"His name is Dorcus. Have you seen him at all?"

"I'm sorry," Lyn told Natalie, "I don't believe I've seen or heard of him."

"I see…" Natalie sighed as her head drooped. "If you see him, please give him a message. Tell him that Natalie is looking for him and she wants nothing more than to have him back home."

"I'll be sure to keep an eye out" Lyn promised.

"In more way than one…" Michael muttered.

This time Lyn delivered a kick to the back of his knees. "Ow!"

While the others awaited Lyn and Michael's return, they failed to notice the looming threat just outside of the ruins. The Ganelon bandits had caught up to them.

"Here they are," The leader of the bandits said with a smile, "We've finally tracked down the band that defeated Migal."

The leader had dark grey hair that went down to his neck. His face was covered in hair and he wore a scowl unlike any other. Compared to other bandits that usually forgo armor, he wore a light leather breastplate. His eyes gave away his bloodlust that was just bubbling below the surface, his long bloodstained axe at his side crying to spill ore crimson liquid on its steel.

"So they've decided to hole up in this ruined fortress," Another bandit that resembled a mouse muttered. "Perfect. We'll wait until it gets dark, and then…"

"Shut your damn yapper, you idiot!" The leader barked, "There's only a few of them and some are women! If we attacked at night, I'd become a laughingstock of our organization! Besides, we might hurt the women. I am not a wasteful man!"

"You're right, Carjiga," The mousey bandit bowed. "You're so smart!"

"We'll avenge Migal and get some pretty souvenirs to boot," Carjiga planned. "Who knows, maybe I'll be made a real leader after this. Hahaha!" Let's go! Spread out and surround the place!"

As the bandits circled the ruined castle, one lone bandit was the last to arrive. Carjiga was not unaware of this particular lackluster member.

"Hey, you!" Carjiga called out to him, "Your name's…Dorcas, right?"

This bandit had red hair that went partially down his neck and a small red goatee around his neck. His eyes were squinted and he wore a simple deerskin shirt with its sleeves ripped off. He looked as if this was the last place he wished to be.

The bandit known as Dorcas remained silent as Carjiga spoke to him.

"You haven't done much since joining us. If those weapons of yours aren't just for show, today's the day you let us see what you can do."

Again, Dorcas remained silent.

"I want you to attack form the back entrance to the west," Carjiga continued, "There's supposed to be a woman inside. I want you to capture her. Do that, and I'll increase your share of the take, good deal, right? If you want gold, you'll show results."

"A bunch of women, huh?" Dorcas sighed. "It would break Natalie's sweet heart to see me sink so low. Damn me."

"Lady Lyndis!" Kent yelled as he burst in, "Outside the fortress! Bandits!"

"Well that was fast!" Michael helpfully contributed.

"How would you know?" Lyn asked him in a hurry.

"What else would come to us before nightfall, or at all?!" Michael asked. "We certainly don't attract help, that's for sure!"

"Persistent bunch, aren't they?" Sain said as he prepared his weapons. "Shall we go and give them a proper welcome?"

"No," Lyn commanded, "Natalie here can't move well. We'll just put her in danger by fighting recklessly. Let them come to us, right?" Lyn looked at Michael.

Michael closed his eyes in thought. "That decision is out of my hands. We're most likely surrounded and most definitely outnumbered. Playing defensive would be the lesser of two evils."

"We'll just need to hold out until they get tired and leave" Lyn told them.

"Bandits? Tire?" Michael asked, "Oh, they'll tire alright. After we've been dealt with. Let's not give them that chance!"

"Oh dear…" Natalie said as her legs buckled beneath her.

"Rest easy, Natalie," Lyn assured her, "No one will harm you as long as we're here!"

"Uh, guys…" Wil said, "Bandits. Kind of all over the place? Might want to start doing something?"

"Let's move out people!" Michael called as everyone took battle positions.

"Kent! Sain!" Lyn commanded, "Take the north entrance! Wil, the east wall!"

Michael looked at Lyn in utter shock.

"Bad plan?" Lyn asked sheepishly.

"No!" Michael told her, "Good plan! I assume you want to take the west entrance?"

Lyn nodded.

"Florina!" Michael began. "I…don't really know what you can do in this situation in all honesty."

"W-w-wait for now?" Florina asked.

Michael nodded as he tried it think. "Stay near the front. If Kent or Sain are having problems, switch out with them so they can have a breather."

Florina ran onto Huey and positioned herself behind Kent and Sain's horses. Wil was in perfect position behind a wall that had begun to crumble, giving him some space to work with when launching his arrows. Lyn was going to hold the west entrance. All that was left was for Michael to find out what kind of foe they were fighting against.

Since the entrance was already full of their own units, the best shot Michael had to finding out information without putting himself as tremendous risk would be to sneak out the side entrance and take peeks at the enemies. Not a good way to get information, but the only real option he had right now.

"Why are you following me?!" Lyn asked in shock as Michael ran with her.

"Only way to get any info without getting in the way" Michael explained.

"You're going to be in danger!" Lyn told him, her voice full of worry.

"I'll be fine" Michael told her coolly.

As they both turned the corner, Michael just barely ahead of Lyn, an axe came out of nowhere and nearly impaled Michael's skull and stuck itself in the wall opposite of them. Instead, it sliced a few hairs off the front of Michael's head, which he saw slowly fall to the ground.

"It appears I spoke too soon," Michael said in a high pitched voice.

"Michael!" Lyn yelled, "Get out of the way!"

Too late. As the last words made their way out of Lyn's mouth, a large bandit ran in from outside and punched Michael in the stomach, knocking the air out of his lungs and dropping him to the ground.

"Get away from him!" Lyn yelled as she pulled out her iron sword and rushed at the bandit.

Coolly, the bandit smacked Michael on the back of the neck and grabbed him by the scruff of his hair and hoisted him up as he pulled out his other axe and used it to block Lyn's assault. Using his superior build and strength, the bandit pushed Lyn back and quickly ran out of the building, leaving Lyn to jump back to her feet and scream like a banshee.

"GET BACK HERE AND GIVE HIM BACK!" Lyn's yell echoed throughout the entire building.

"What happened?!" Sain yelled as he pushed back an axe wielding bandit.

"THEY TOOK HIM!" Lyn continued to yell as she joined them, "THEY TOOK MICHAEL!"

Florina and Wil were shocked. Meanwhile Kent and Sain both almost dropped their guard and almost impaled as a result.

"Not again!" Kent yelled in anger as he took a swing at a bandit, who narrowly dodged his slash thanks to Kent's emotions crippling his form.

"W-w-what do we do now?!" Florina cried.

"Let's push forward and save him!" Wil suggested as he knocked another arrow and fired it.

"No!" Lyn yelled, "We'll be throwing our lives away then! Michael wouldn't want that! Besides, if they do anything to them, they'll never take any of us alive!" Her voice quickly became coated in venom.

Dorcas couldn't believe his luck. He only wished he had gotten the girl instead of the young man now unconscious in his arm. But still, a hostage is a hostage. With him, they may be able to take the rest of the group prisoner without more fuss.

"Dorcas!" Carjiga called, "What do you have here?!"

"Hostage," Dorcas replied. "Might be useful."

"This scrawny pipsqueak?" The mousey bandit from earlier asked, "He looks like a toothpick. Ain't no way he'll be useful, is there?"

"Guess we'll see," Carjiga muttered, "Dorcas! Wake the brat up from his little nap and get in position. It's time to do a little 'bartering.' Hehehehe…."

Dorcas did as he was told and when into the safety of the other bandits and pulled out a canteen. He undid the cap of the canteen and gently poured the water over Michael's face. It didn't take long for Michael to start sputtering up water once it was poured down his nose.

"Quiet," Dorcas calmly ordered him, "Stay still."

Aside from the random coughing the boy did to get the water out of his nose, he complied swiftly and with a noise. A smart boy, Dorcas thought. But if he was smart enough he wouldn't have gotten himself caught. At least without a fight first if he had a weapon on him. But the boy did indeed looked too scrawny to effectively wield anything.

"Boy!" Carjiga commanded, "Time to fall back! I want you back over here pronto!"

The bandits immediately complied with Carjiga's order, and in no time, were all back into a huddled mass.

"Why did they fall back?!" Sain wondered aloud as he wiped the blood from a scratch one of the bandits had afflicted him with.

"I don't know," Kent said as he caught his breath, "But nothing good can come of it."

"L-l-look!" Florina shouted as she pointed her finger towards three masses moving out of the bandit's huddle.

"They've got Michael!" Wil yelled.

"He's not hurt," Lyn observed. "Good for them."

Carjiga had made Dorcas follow him halfway past the field as he dragged the boy by the hair. The boy wasn't struggling at all. Instead, the boy was doing a marvelous job at keeping his cool and remaining calm. A pleasant change from the temperamental men that Dorcas usually associated with in the bandit-hood.

"Clean out your ears and listen up!" Carjiga addressed the group inside the old fortress, "We've got your boy here and he isn't harmed!"

Dorcas could feel a visible sigh of relief flow over the group.

"But!" Carjiga continued, "That can change in a heartbeat! We can have his head rolling in a second if I so much as ordered to! We aren't monsters! We won't harm your friend! All we want you to do is out down your weapons and surrender!"

"Never you swine-faced imbecile!" The green armored knight called to Carjiga. Dorcas almost cracked a smile. The knight had spunk.

"What'd you just call me?!" Carjiga called back in rage.

"Stop!" The green haired girl Dorcas had fought earlier when he captured this boy spoke up. Gently and slowly, she placed her iron sword on the ground in front of her and sat down on her knees.

A ripple of shock went through the rest of the group. Dorcas could even fell the boy he was holding by his hair take a sharp breath.

"Tell the others to drop their weapons" Carjiga commanded the girl.

"Guys, please, drop your weapons" The green haired girl said pleadingly.

The group hesitated, but after a moment, they began to bend down to lay down their weapons.

Dorcas mustn't have had as good a grip on the boy's hair as he thought because at that moment, the boy yelled out to his comrades, "DON'T YOU GUYS DARE PUT THEM DOWN! FORGET ABOUT ME AND PROTECT YOURSELVES!"

"Dorcas!" Carjiga yelled, "Shut that brat up!"

At his order, Dorcas immediately punched the boy in the stomach with his free hand. The boy recoiled in pain before going limp once again in his hand.

"You−" Dorcas heard the green-haired girl mutter.

"Take the kid back," Carjiga told Dorcas as he started to walk back himself, "We'll give you a little more time to think it over. Remember; if you don't do as we say, your friend dies and we send him back to you piece by piece."

Both of them slowly retreated back to the group, making sure to walk backwards while using the boy as a shield so their archer couldn't shoot them.

"Damn them all to the darkest corners of hell!" Sain barely muttered to himself as the two bandits retreated.

"We are in a quite the compromising position" Kent summarized.

"W-w-what do we d-d-do now?" Florina asked as she shook like a leaf.

"We fight!" Wil said, "That was the last thing Michael said to us! He wouldn't want us all to go down just for him!"

"What about you Lady Lyndis?" Sain asked, "What is your opinion?"

Lyn was balling her fists so hard her knuckles were bordering on turning purple. "I…I just don't know…"

"If we do not comply," Kent said aloud, "They will kill Michael indefinitely. But if we surrender, they may still kill him anyway once we are all subdued. A hard decision with no right answer."

"Damn it all!" Wil shouted as he punched a wall. "And it's not like we've reduced their numbers! At best we killed one or two of them!"

"Spirits," Lyn prayed aloud, "Please keep Michael safe…"

Dorcas had to feel bad for the boy. For the second time in not even ten minutes, he had been knocked out twice and had been used as a bargaining chip in a Lose-Lose scenario for his comrades. But Dorcas didn't have the time to feel bad. The money from this job would go a long way.

Once again, Dorcas drizzled some water into the boy's nose to wake him up. His breathing as a little raspy. Most likely from Dorcas's last punch to his stomach.

"Sit down" Dorcas told the boy. The boy complied without a complaint.

The boy's eyes darted all around him, taking in as much information as possible. In all honesty, he looked like a cornered rat trying to escape.

"Don't think of running, "Dorcas told the boy, "They'll just kill you then. At least for now they're keeping you alive."

The boy was silent.

An enormous blunder of unparalleled proportions. That's what Michael thought as he was awoken the second time water was drizzled down his nose. He couldn't believe he had gotten caught, especially before the battle had even properly begun. If his mistake got his friends captured or worse, he'd never be able to rest easy. As he looked around at all the bandits in the group, his mind was working at a lightspeed, trying to remember every detail about their supplies and what their numbers were like.

'_Crap!'_ Michael thought. _'Look like there are twenty guys here! We really have our work cut out for us…No. They have their work cut out. I'm as good as dead.'_

This was what tacticians and leaders alike called a hopeless situation. There was no way out for Michael unless he made a mad run for that would lead to his inevitable death.

'_Focus, Michael! Calm down and focus! No good will come from panicking! _

As Michael took in several large breaths to calm down, he began to reassess the bandits he was being held captive were quite skilled for as far as bandits went. Michael wouldn't be surprised to find out if any of them had been soldiers that defected for one reason or another. But regardless of skill level, they had a large numerical advantage over the others and could easily rush them to end the battle quickly. He needed to come up with a strategy for how to escape−and fast.

"Trying to come up with a strategy?" The muscular bandit that knocked Michael out asked, almost as if reading his mind.

"I don't have the faintest idea about what you're talking about" Michael tried to act nonchalant.

"It's pretty easy to see," The bandit told him, "That's what most people would do in this situation, right? Try and escape?"

"Only if they're desperate to die" Michael told him coolly. This bandit looked oddly familiar.

The bandit chuckled a little. "You don't sound like you hate the idea of dying."

"Not if others are going to die for me," Michael told him while taking a pause. Michael was about to take a huge risk by asking this question, but his position was already risky enough. This wouldn't change things, "…You wouldn't happen to be Dorcas, would you?"

"…How do you know my name?" Dorcas asked, immediately going on the defensive.

"I talked with Natalie" Michael answered. Maybe this could lead to an opportunity.

"Natalie?!" Dorcas asked, his voice rising slightly. "What happened? Where is she?"

"In those ruins" Michael told him. "She was looking for you. People had said you were around here."

"Damn!" Dorcas looked panicked and even…guilty?

"She doesn't know your consorting with bandits?" Michael asked.

"Oiy, Dorcas!" The mousey bandit said, "Shut that kid up! It's about time for his friends to decide his fate."

Dorcas put his hand over Michael's mouth. "Stay quit, but keep talking' Dorcas told him as he whispered into his ear before pulling away.

"Why are you doing this?" Michael whispered.

"I need money" Dorcas told him.

"Natalie's leg?" Michael asked.

Dorcas nodded.

"There are better ways to earn gold, you know"

"Maybe," Dorcas agreed with him, "But they don't earn it quickly enough to be worth it."

"She'll die if I don't get back" Michael told Dorcas flat out.

Dorcas went ridged for a moment before uttering a still calm, "What?" A hint of anger was flowing through.

"These guys are just going to end up throwing themselves at my friends," Michael told him, "Eventually they'll be pushed back to where Natalie is and they'll kill her without a second thought."

"Over my dead body!" Dorcas growled.

"My sentiments exactly" Michael agreed.

"I assume this is the part where you tell me how to stop that from happening?" Dorcas asked.

"You catch on fast" Michael noted.

"To be a married man, you have to be" Dorcas told him.

"Then let's stop this banter and get to the point," Michael told him. "Convince your leader to walk me over to my friends. Say I'm the leader and I've decided to make them surrender. When we get within a foot's distance of them we break for it and haul ourselves in the ruins while I inform everybody of our plan of attack."

"You're forgetting about Darrel," Dorcas told him, "He's the archer. He'll shoot one of us down the minute we get into their range."

"Damn!" Any ways we can get rid of him?" Michael asked.

Dorcas showed Michael one of his axes. "Got this here hand axe. I could throw it at him. Probably break his bow if not just spook him."

"That's what you threw at us earlier," Michael remembered, "How'd you get it back?"

"All throwing weapons are enchanted with magic," Dorcas told him, "After a bit of time, they come back to our hands.

In a faraway universe, Percy Jackson sneezed as he uncapped his pen that soon turned into his trusty sword Riptide.

"Interesting" Michael mused.

"Is that our plan?" Dorcas asked.

"Unless you've got something more to add" Michael nodded.

"I'll go talk to the boss then" Dorcas said as he walked over to the leader.

"What you want, Dorcas?" Carjiga asked.

"Kid here wants to talk to his friends," Dorcas explained, "Said he had a change of heart and wants to convince them to surrender."

"Really?" Carjiga asked in slight shock.

"Really" Dorcas said in a deadpan tone.

"Then haul that kid out there!" Carjiga commanded. "And if he tries anything funny, cut his throat."

"Will do" Dorcas told him as he walked away.

Dorcas made sure to make a show of dragging Michael over to his friends. Michael had played the part of a desperate boy trying to save his own skin well. A few bandits even muttered some comments about Michael being wise for 'being a sell out.' How Dorcas couldn't wait to be rid of these sorry excuse for men.

As they walked over, the archer on their side aimed an arrow at Dorcas. Reflexively, Dorcas bent his knees and retreat behind Michael's figure, using him as a shield as they walked.

"Sorry," Dorcas told Michael, "Reflex."

"I don't blame you" Michael said with a sigh.

On the other side, Lyn was in a panic.

"Wil!" Put down your bow, you might hit Michael!"

"One shot!" Wil pleaded, "One good shot and I'll have Michael free of that guy's clutches before they can even gasp!"

Lyn forcefully grabbed Wil's bow arm and slapped him. "PUT. IT. DOWN."

Florina let out a small "Eep!" at Lyn's sudden outburst.

"I don't believe this is the best time to be losing our tempers" Sain commented in all seriousness, his attention focused on the bandit steadily walking Michael over to them.

"There are no openings" Kent muttered as his eyes remained fixed in the bandit as well.

"Then we'll have to make one then" Sain told him.

They were almost there now. Dorcas could make out their faces. Most of them had looks of utter hatred on their faces. At that moment, Dorcas didn't know who had worse glares, his boss or this soon to be allies.

"I don't think they like me" Dorcas observed.

"Maybe punching me had something to do with it?" Michael offered.

"Nothing personal."

"I know. Just joking."

"You have a strange sense of humor."

"This is a strange situation."

"True."

They were now within optimal distance. They were far enough where the bandits couldn't hear them, but close enough where Dorcas could still aim at Darren.

"Hey guys!" Michael waved.

"Certainly cheery for a prisoner…"Sain noted. "Did they drug you or something?"

"No," Michael told them, "Nothing like that."

Lyn cautiously walked forward to Michael, her sword still in her hand as she eyed Dorcas, "Who's your 'friend' here?"

"Name's Dorcas" Dorcas grunted.

"He's our new ally!" Michael finished introducing.

Kent's grip on his sword slacked, Sain dropped his, Florina shrunk in the presence of another man, Wil had a face of complete disbelief, and Lyn's eyes bugged out.

"Ally?" Lyn asked, "Him?!"

"Remember what Natalie told us?" Michael asked, hoping to jog Lyn's memory.

"You're her husband!" Lyn realized.

"You don't say?" Dorcas said sarcastically, but with an even tone.

"Guys?" Wil asked, "Bandits?"

"I've got a plan!" Michael told him.

"I trust you" Lyn told him.

"Good! Dorcas, if you will…"

"This is going to hurt…" Dorcas warned as he threw Michael to the ground, pulled out his hand axe, turned around and threw it as hard as he could at Darren.

The axe crashed into his bow, shattering it and firmly lodging itself into Darren's hearts, who crumpled into a heap as a wave of shock washed over the bandits.

"Oops," Dorcas said sarcastically, "Friendly-fire. Bound to happen eventually."

As soon as the shock from Dorcas turning traitor passed by, Carjiga issued a command in a voice of anger only a man with the greatest of vendetta could make, "STOP STANDING THERE AND GO BRING ME BACK THAT TRAITOR'S HEAD! IN FACT, BRING ME ALL OF THEIR HEADS!"

In their rush to comply with their leader's orders, some of the bandits trampled some of the other ones that were either sitting down or were too slow to get out of the way of their allies. They had become more akin to a terrified pack of animals than bandits with a goal.

"Strategy time guys!" Michael announced as everyone huddled over.

"Wil, Florina, get on Huey! You're going to be sniping and spearing any enemies you can. With them in such disarray, they'll be easy targets. Everyone else, you'll be their vanguard. Stop any of them from putting so much as a finger on them! Understood?!"

Everyone roared in agreement as they intercepted the bandits in battle. All except Dorcas.

"Any reason you're not in the charge?" Michael asked him.

"I'm keeping an eye on you," Dorcas explained, 'In case something bad happens."

"Like what?" Michael asked, tempting fate.

"Like this!" Dorcas said as he pulled out his other axe and smashed it into the face of the only bandit to use the west entrance for a sneak attack, firmly lodging it into his face.

Michael watched as the bandit fell after Dorcas removed his axe. "Thanks…"

"Consider that my way of saying sorry for punching you so many times."

"If that's how you say sorry, I want to see how you say thank you!"

"Now what?" Dorcas asked, his eyes turning to the battle that was quickly becoming a slaughter for Lyn's group.

"We watch. And cheer" Michael told him.

"I'm not the cheering type."

"Suit yourself then."

The 'battle' ended in minutes. What could have been admittedly a challenging battle if the bandits stayed organized, turned into a complete victory for Michael and Lyn once Carjiga lost his temper. Though Michael had no right to brag since he had gotten himself caught. If it weren't for them speaking to Natalie earlier, Michael and the others could have very well have been killed.

"I'll be back!" Carjiga yelled as he ran into the forest, "Next time you'll all be dead beneath my boots!"

"Are all battles like this?" Dorcas asked as he saw Carjiga run with his tail between his legs.

"No," Michael answered honestly, "I usually need to direct people more than once. Today was a special case."

"You don't make a habit of getting captured?"

"I don't make a habit of planning in buildings when it's getting dark" Michael said, as if answering everything.

As everyone came back from mopping up the bandits, many of them were yawning and stretching. It had been a tiring battle, and a long day.

Michael had to stifle a yawn himself when he saw Sain taking a huge one. But before congratulate everyone on a job well done he had the air crushed out of his lungs as Lyn wrapped in a huge hug.

"Gah!" was all Michael could say.

"You're safe" Lyn whispered, her voice full of relief.

Dorcas looked on with a raised eyebrow.

Michael hugged her back. "I might not be if you keep chocking me!"

"Sorry" Lyn apologized as she released him from her grip.

"You gave us quite the scare," Kent told him, "I feel like I lost a year or so off my life…"

"If you ever do that again," Sain threatened, "I'll kill you before they can."

"Dully noted" Michael told them.

"What about that bandit that got away?' Wil asked, "Won't he be back?"

"I don't think so," Dorcas told them, "The Ganelon bandits don't like failure. Especially when fifteen men die from it."

…Dorcas?" A voice asked tenderly.

The group all looked over to see Natalie slowly walking over to them. They had almost forgotten about her with their battle high ending.

"Natalie…" Dorcas said as he walked over to her and embraced her in a hug that she gave him right back.

"You're okay…"Natalie said, tears of thanks flowing down her face.

"Yes," Dorcas agreed, "And I've seen the error of my ways."

"You stupid man!" Natalie yelled, though he didn't seem to be truly angry, "What if you had gotten yourself hurt? Do you know how much trouble you would be in?"

"I do now," Dorcas told her, "I have my young friend to thank for that" Dorcas ushered to Michael as he finished.

"Thank you for bringing my husband back" Natalie bowed to Michael as she thanked him.

"I did nothing special," Michael assure her, "I only did as what was asked and found your husband. Truth be told, if I hadn't went with Lyn, he might've…" Michael didn't finish his train of thought.

"We did nothing special," Lyn agreed with a smile, "All we did was help curb a little bandit problem."

"We both owe you so much more than we could ever give" Natalie said.

"She's right," Dorcas agreed, "I can have a better future now, both as a husband and as a man."

"And we hope you have the best of luck" Lyn told him.

"It's time for you to start helping each other again" Michael told them.

Dorcas let out a small chuckle. "That brings up my point, truth be told. As thanks for keeping my Natalie safe, as well as getting me back on the straight and narrow, let me offer my services to you. Free of charge."

Everyone, minus Natalie, did a double-take.

"What?!" Lyn asked, voicing the response of everyone in the group.

"You heard what I said," Dorcas told them with ha smile, "It's my way of paying you back."

"…It's your call," Lyn turned to Michael, "You got him to switch sides."

"My call?!" Michael asked in shock, "Since when has it ever been my call?!"

"Since now, you twit!" Michael heard Sain whisper in annoyance. Michael turned around to see him rubbing the sleep from his eyes. The sun had also almost completely sunk past the horizon.

"Dorcas," Michael began as he faced him, "I'm afraid I cannot take your free services in good conscious."

Dorcas let out a small sigh, "I see…"

"But!" Michael cut him off, "I can accept your services if I hire you!"

Everyone gave Michael and odd look, even Natalie this time.

"What do you mean?" Dorcas asked.

"Simple," Michael explained as if it was common knowledge, "you're a mercenary now. It's only fitting that I pay you for your services. Except you will be paid AFTER the job is done!"

Dorcas let it sink in for a minute before bursting out into a hearty laugh.

"Alright, you've made you point! I accept your work offer, but only on one condition!"

"What will that condition be?" Lyn jumped in.

"I serve as Michael's personal bodyguard!" Dorcas told her.

"Deal!" Lyn agreed.

"Wait? What?!" Michael exclaimed.

"You heard, little man!" Dorcas told him. "Me. Your bodyguard. You won't ever have to worry about anyone trying to hurt you again with Dorcas the Manslayer looking out for you!"

"Dorcas the Manslayer…?" Michael asked, "That has a nice ring to it."

"Be safe on your job, Dorkie" Natalie told him.

"Dorkie?" Michael snickered.

"It's a nickname," Dorcas explained to Michael as if he were a small child, "Maybe you'll have one when you're married someday. That is, IF you ever find a woman who can stand you."

"The big guy has jokes," Wil yawned, "How surprising…"

"Hope you enjoy your last night being able to sleep at home," Michael warned Dorcas, "Because we'll be gone for a long time."

"I'll be ready bright and early tomorrow," Dorcas assured him, "...Boss."

**Author's Notes: **I feel Dorcas will be a real bro in this fic. (initiate sarcasm mode)Though I have no idea why , just a hunch.

But Dorkie? Real imaginative nickname Natalie gave you, Dorcas!


	9. Interlude 4: No Pain, No Gain

Interlude 4: No Pain, No Gain

**Author's Notes:** Sorry it took so long to upload! Work decided to take a huge chunk out of my writing time. But wow, 2500 words exactly for this interlude! Eventually they may become as long as the chapters themselves! That kinda scares me because of how the word count has steadily risen for each consecutive chapter...

In other news for this fic: I'm making the Tactician into a fighter! Not an actual one that with fight on the front lines by any means, but at least proficient enough to protect himself. That's one thing I always thought strange, especially since Awakening. Why didn't the enemy aim for the Tactician? Pretty sure everyone would die without their direction. Then again, the Lord probably kept the Tactician in their hammer-space pocket...

Finally, thank you to supershayming for the review. It brought a smile to my face.

Hope you all enjoy this chapter! The next has a character I have some plans for...

The night was proving to be a restless one. After the brush with the Ganelon bandits, no one could find a peaceful respite, despite everyone's fatigue. As if to add salt to the wound, the wind was providing a comforting breeze and the sky was clear and cloudless. No animals were making their presence known to the group at all. The only sounds were the rustling of the trees in the wind and the running water of a nearby stream.

Kent, the poor poster boy for knighthood, was attempting to keep watch for the group, but even he had his physical limits. More than once his eyelids shut themselves for more than a few moments before the sounds of his own snoring awoke him from his unwanted slumber. Though Sain was worse off. Not even pretending to care to keep a watchful eye, Sain fell into blissful sleep more than once, only for Kent to nudge him awake whenever he woke up. Sain's cheerful attitude began to evaporate after the fourth time he had been denied the pleasure of dreaming.

Poor little Florina was shivering and mumbling in her sleep. A few tears even flowed down her face. In an act of concern, Huey would gently lick the tears off of Florina's face before she awoke with a start from her faithful steed's tickling kiss. After the third time, Florina settled on lying Huey down and using her as a makeshift pillow, where Florina finally found some sense of solace and comfort.

Wil had been unable to even feel sleep's embrace even once. Considering his weakening consciousness after the battle, it was an aggravating wonder how he wasn't tired now. He had taken to staring intently as the ceiling of the ruined building, as if they would share some wondrous secret if he could keep his gaze locked long enough. After half an hour's worth of time, he tired of the ceiling and his game and decided to inspect his bow. He had been using it much more than he usually did, and it was beginning to show signs of wear and tear. He would have to get a new one soon. He must remember to bring it up to Michael next time they were in town since he controlled the group's finances.

At the same time, the hapless tactician was having his own difficulties falling asleep. That last battle had been the second time he had been captured or otherwise put at the mercy of the enemy. The second time he had found himself at Death's doorstep. The first time he had gotten luck that they enemy liked to play with his food before offing him, giving Lyn the time to catch him with his guard down. The second time, he had gotten even luckier that Natalie was in possession of a drawing of Dorcas, who in turn was the one to capture him. If not for those two things, he would have died during either battle.

There was an old adage that as wise old man once told him; if something happens to you once it won't happen again. But, if it happens a second time, it will most certainly happen a third time. Well, it had happened twice, so Michael was already prepared to take steps for when it would happen a third time.

Since sleep may as well be a foreign concept to him, Michael decided to seek out Lyn. Last time he had checked, she was sleeping with Florina. But she wasn't there when he checked and only saw Florina grimacing in her sleep as she used Huey as a pillow. With a small sigh, Michael covered her with his blanket while Huey gave him an ever watchful glance.

"Relax," Michael told the Pegasus in a whisper, "I will never hurt her."

At his words, Florina tossed in her sleep. Deciding not to test whether or not her gynophobia took effect if she was conscious or not, Michael decided to leave and go find Lyn again. There weren't that many places she would go without the rest of the group.

As Michael made his way towards the entrance to the ruins, he found Sain battling with falling asleep, his eyes almost completely bloodshot. He wore an expression that made it abundantly clear that he desired nothing more than to kill Kent and drift off into a deep sleep.

"You're relieved from duty" Michael told him as he put his hand on his shoulder.

"Eh? What?" Sain asked in a half awake state, "Sleep? Don't mind if I do!" Without so much as a goodnight, Sain slumped forward and began to snore.

"Michael, what are you doing up?" Kent asked him as he walked over. Kent looked just as bad as Sain, but he was trying his best to remain awake.

"I couldn't sleep so I was taking a stroll and looking in on everyone" Michael told him.

"Battling with unpleasant thought?" Kent asked.

Michael gave him a nod. "There is no greater enemy than an overactive mind when trying to rest. Speaking of rest, you should get some. Your bags have bags."

Kent shook his head. "As a knight under the charge to protect his lord's only granddaughter, I cannot falter for a moment in my duties."

To prove to Kent how tired and thus how useless he was in his current state, Michael jumped out at him, a punch stopping just short of Kent's stomach. It took Kent almost two full seconds to register what Michael was doing after he had already done it.

"You were in a tough battle," Michael told him, "You've pushed yourself beyond your limits with always volunteering for the night watch while the others get to sleep. I don't think anyone will hold it against you if you took a day off."

"But who will-?" Kent began but was cut off by putting his fist on his mouth.

"That's an order from your strategist," Michael commanded, "You're no use on the battlefield if you can't even keep up with me."

Kent opened his mouth as if to protest, but he quickly saw the reason behind Michael's orders. Without a word Kent walked over to his pack and took out two pillows and blankets. Silently, Kent nudged Sain awake one final time to hand him his bed for the night. In seconds, both were soundly asleep side by side.

'_If I didn't know any better, I'd say they were brothers' _Michael thought.

Now that the area was clear from anyone that might ruin his plan, Michael went out to find Lyn.

It didn't take long to find her, the soft sounds of steel meeting wood giving away her location. As Michael approached, he saw Lyn practicing her sword strikes against one of the fallen trees in a small clearing. He couldn't help but be mesmerized by her swordsmanship.

Lyn delivered a smooth horizontal strike to the tree, removing it in a fluid motion that proceed to transition into graceful stab into the heart of the wood. In another motion, her sword was free again and she transitioned into an overhead vertical strike, which then lead into an under head one. There was a certain wildness in the way she moved. It wasn't wild as in cumbersome or random and unpredictable, but as if Lyn herself ceased to exist when she used the sword and instead became something…more. It was as if the elements around her bended to her need. It air didn't offer resistance and the ground kept her footing steady and straight so that her strike might land true. It was as if she became one with nature and in turn became part of its force.

As Lyn gave one last stab into the wood before she grabbed a towel from nearby and wiped the sweat off of her brow. Her green eyes, almost otherworldly with the aura of the moon reflecting off them, seemed to lead her deeply into her own thoughts. So deep that no one could ever penetrate the world she was in.

A snap of a twig being crushed under Michael's foot broke her from her reverie as she sharply turned herself around in the direction of the noise, her sword at the ready.

"Just me" Michael told her as he put his hands up in surrender.

"Don't do that," Lyn told him as she put her sword down, "If I didn't look first I could have hurt you."

"Of that, I have no doubt" Michael agreed with her.

"What are you doing up so late? It's well past midnight."

"I could ask you that same thing."

"I'm practicing, obviously. Can't have my skills stagnating while we get closer to the final conformation."

"The confrontation with your grand-uncle. Lord Lundburger, was it?"

Lyn let out a small laugh, "Lundgren is his name. Though I do appreciate the attempt at humor."

Michael let out a fake sigh, "Can't blame a guy for trying. But in all seriousness, there was something I was hoping to ask you about. A favor, in all honesty."

"And what would that be?" Lyn asked as she finished wiping the sweat from her head and arms and started wiping it off her legs.

"I was hoping to ask you for sword lessons" Michael told her as the thought that she had wonderful legs crossed his mind. How did he never notice them before? He gave himself a mental slap as he found his gaze lowering. This wasn't the time or the place! Sometimes it proved to be more than a curse to be male. Though Michael knew women had far more problems than a man could ever have.

"Sword lesson?!" Lyn repeated. "If you want to learn, I'm sure Kent would be more than glad to teach you. Besides, he would make a much better teacher than me."

"Oh, I know," Michael told her, agreeing with her reasoning, "It's just that Kent's lessons would most likely teach me about a uniform style that our enemies might use when we get closer to Caelin. I'd rather learn your style because it isn't so uniform. It's easier to catch an opponent off-guard that way."

"I wouldn't know where to start teaching you…"

"Please? Don't make me pout!"

"You? Pout? Never."

To prove her point wrong, Michael produced the greatest pout he could muster. His pouts could melt even the coldest of hearts. Puppies made the best teachers.

"That's not fair!" Lyn said with a whine as she pointed a finger at Michael.

"Teach me?" Michael asked as he kept the pout up.

"Fine! Just please stop pouting?"

"Done!" Michael told her as his pout disappeared and his smile reappeared.

"When did you want to start lessons?"

"Now, if at all possible."

"Now? As in now, now?"

Michael gave her a nod.

"That's…kind of sudden" Lyn told him as she scratched the back of her head.

"So are bandit attacks" Michael countered.

Lyn let out a sigh, "I still don't know how to begin teaching you."

"How did you first start out with swordplay?" Michael was desperate to get the ball rolling on his lessons.

"I just picked up a sword and learned by myself for the most part" Lyn told him.

"You didn't have a teacher?"

"Not really. My father gave me a few lessons and pointers, but nothing that would give him the role as a teacher."

"In that case, the best step would be to just have me practice swings for now so I can spar with you eventually."

"That doesn't seem like lesson to me."

"It will be when you tell me how to swing."

"You've lost me."

Michael outstretched his hand, "Can you pass me the sword?"

Without a second thought, Lyn gave her sword to Michael.

"I'll start swinging," Michael began to explain to her, "When you see me swinging in a way you don't like, tell me and I'll mix it up."

"Alright," Lyn said as she shook her head, "Begin then."

Michael learned his first lesson about swordplay: swords were heavy. By the first vertical swing he did, Michael could feel his muscles tensing as the weight of the blade flowed into his arms. While he wasn't the strongest person in the world by any means, he at least had average strength. But a few swings with the simple iron sword had him rethinking that thought.

"No, no, that's all wrong" Lyn said almost immediately.

"What?!" Michael asked in shock, "How so?"

"Here…" Lyn told him as she positioned herself behind him. She put her hands over his own and gently directed where his hands should hold the blade.

"If we're going to teach you the way I learned," Lyn told him, "You're going to learn how to swing exactly the way I did."

Lyn slowly used her hands to pull Michael's over to his left shoulder and made a downwards diagonal swing in the air. She did it a few more times until Michael began to go through the motion himself before removing her hands and taking a few steps back. "Do that swing fifty times and we'll take it from there."

"Fifty?!" Michael yelled, "I'll be dead by twenty!"

"I don't think you're giving yourself enough credit. You're stronger than you look."

"How?"

"I could tell when I was correcting your grip and movements. Your arms were surprisingly muscular for someone…as lean as you."

"Oh…Thank you" Michael said as he blushed a little, hoping that is wasn't visible.

"Fifty swings. Hop to it."

With a groan, Michael began the grueling session of swinging the sword up and down at the exact same diagonal and degree each time. More than one Lyn had to stop him and correct his form or how he was preforming the slash, regardless of how little he was off. What was originally fifty turned into two hundred swings. On the last swing, the sword fell from Michael's hands and hit the ground with a thud. Michael's face was flooded with sweat as his arms shook violently from the strain he had put them through.

"N-no more…" Michael moaned in pain.

"I think we went a little too far for the first lesson…" Lyn said with a small awkward chuckle as she wiped the sweat from Michael's brow.

Michael suppressed whatever retort he could think of and silently nodded in agreement.

"We spent too much time on your lesson today. I'd say it's time to go to sleep. What do you say?" Lyn asked.

"Sleep? That's sounds so good right now" Michael told her as her craned his neck back.

Picking up her sword, Lyn began to direct Michael back to the ruins as he continued to occasionally groan about his aching arms. But the exercise had gotten more that none job done. Not only did both of them fall to sleep quite easily, but now Michael would be taking the first steps to being stronger.


	10. Chapter 5: Beyond the Border

Chapter 5: Beyond the Borders

**Author's Notes: **Finally! Erk! One of my favorite characters. I love his sarcasm.

Once again, in response to supershayming, thank you for the review. And just because Michael is learning swordplay, doesn't mean he won't learn anything else! ;D But that would be spoilers for later.

Enjoy guys, and leave reviews so I know what to work on in later chapters!

The next morning Dorcas arrived bright and early to the ruins. Most of the group was still asleep, only Kent and Lyn being there to greet Dorcas as he walked in. Sain was still snoring loudly by the entrance, him cuddling with his pillow as he muttered sweet nothings into its no-existent ear. Wil was tossing and turning in his sleep, his face showing signs of irritation with the sunlight breaking through the cracks of the ceiling above where he was sleeping. Florina was peacefully asleep, Huey wrapped around her for warmth. The mare was beginning to show signs of restlessness from lying down for so long and was stirring as a result. Michael, however, was sleeping awkwardly on against a nearby wall, his arms sunk as low as they could go. His neck had fallen into an odd angle as he slept, which would no doubt develop into a very painful crick in his neck once he woke up.

"Mornin'" Dorcas greeted Lyn and Kent as they gave him a nod.

"Ready to start work?" Lyn asked him.

"I've been ready since yesterday," Dorcas told her, "Speaking of which, where's the Boss?"

"He's still asleep on yonder wall" Kent directed him as he pointed to where Michael was sleeping.

"I'll go wake him," Dorcas decided, "A mercenary's gotta keep their client from point A to B as quickly as they can."

"Be careful when you wake him!" Lyn warned him.

Dorcas gave her a nod as he went over to where Michael was sleeping and gently nudged him several times to rouse him.

"Is the sun up?" Michael asked sleepily as he started stretching his neck, several audible cracks occurring as he moved it.

"From the bright light and warm rays, I'd say it is" Dorcas answered him as took a step back.

"Aren't you here a little early?" Michael asked with a yawn.

"A mercenary is only on time or late," Dorcas told him, "I want myself to be in the 'on time' category."

"Speaking of on time," Michael said as he bent over to see Sain's embarrassing sleep position, "How about you wake Sain up?"

Dorcas took one look at Sain and sighed, "Boss's orders are absolute."

As Dorcas walked away to wake up Sain, Michael's eyes quickly bugged out as the pain in his arms from last night hit him full force. Just moving his arm up brought an intense pain throughout his whole arm.

From outside the ruins, Lyn silently mouthed 'sorry' to Michael when she saw his reaction to the pain.

"Morning…" Wil yawned as he walked over to her.

"Morning, Wil," Lyn greeted him, "how did you sleep?"

"Terrible," Wil told her, "Will it be possible for us to sleep in an inn for once? I'm not complaining mind you, it just might be a nice change of pace from…outside."

Lyn let out small laugh "We'll see if we can find one to fit all of us."

"My body says 'thank you' in advance!" Wil told her, his smile back on his face.

"I think it's time Sain woke up" Kent said to himself as he walked over to wake up his green armored comrade.

"Why must my beautiful dream be constantly disturbed by you every time?!" Sain yelled in complaint as Dorcas shook him awake. "Ah, you're not Kent. My apologies."

"You wouldn't be the first man to have a rude awakening thanks to me" Dorcas told him.

Sain let out a chuckle, "Such quick wit! You're actually quite the joker, aren't you Dorcas?"

Dorcas remained stone-faced as Sain's laugh slowly turned awkward before he stopped. "Oh my, you were serious."

"I'd hazard a guess that you are the only non-serious one among us" Kent told him as he walked beside him.

"And here comes the taskmaster…" Sain muttered to himself before pulling out as much optimism as he could. "Good morning, Kent, my brother-in-arms!"

"Morning ended two hours ago," Kent pointed out, "It's the afternoon now."

"Details!" Sain told him, "Who needs them?"

Michael was enjoying the two knights bickering as he remained seated before a voice grabbed his attention.

"D-did you give me y-your blanket?"

"It seems I was found out" Michael told Florina as he turned his head to meet her.

"Huey…told me" Florina informed him.

"Huey talks?" Michael asked in a monotone voice.

"No!" Florina let out, "Well, yes. It's hard to explain to someone who isn't a knight. I'm able to understand her to a degree because I've been with her for so long."

"So it's like Kent and Sain?" Michael asked in an attempt to use a similar example.

Florina nodded. "Yes."

"Sounds special," Michael mused, "I'm kind of jealous."

"Why?" Florina asked him

"I've never had that kind of relationship with anyone before" Michael told her.

"Not even your parents?" Florina asked quizzically.

"That's a…touchy subject," Michael sighed, "I never knew them."

A sharp intake of breath from Florina served as her reaction.

"Rather not go into details" Michael told her.

"I-I-I won't ask…" Florina told him.

All of a sudden, Michael let out a small laugh.

"What's so funny?" Florina asked him.

"I think this is the longest you've ever talked with someone else in the group aside from Lyn" Michael informed her.

"I-well-that's…" Florina began as she turned bet red.

"Relax!" Michael told her as he laughed again, "Take it slow. There's no need to push yourself. Take it one conversation at a time."

"It's nice…talking to you," Florina told Michael in a whisper, "It's almost like talking to a brother."

"Hm?" Michael asked, but Florina scampered away before he could inquire further insight.

"Brother, huh? Turns out our great tactician is quite the familiar fellow!" Sain joked as he walked over to Michael.

"Good morning to you too, Sain" Michael greeted him.

"To quote Kent; 'Morning was two hours ago. It's the afternoon now'" Sain told him.

"That late, huh? We'd better get moving then."

"Allow me to help you up then" Sain offered Michael as he made a grab for one of his arms.

"Wait! Sain! Don't-Aaauuughhhh!" Michael screamed as Sain hoisted him up by his right arm.

"Sain!" Kent yelled as he ran over, "What did you do?!"

"I'm guilty of nothing!" Sain yelled back as he put up his arms in surrender.

"R-relax…"Michael breathed in a high voice, "My arms are just really sore right now. Can't move them much."

"That's going to be a problem" Dorcas said as he walked over.

"How will he get on a horse if he can't move his arms?" Sain asked aloud.

"Like this" Dorcas answered as he hoisted Michael up by his green cloak and began to walk towards the horses.

"A practical solution," Kent said softly, "I like this man already."

The next few days of marching passed by uneventfully. The bandits were few and far between, the only signs of their activity being from the occasional village raid that their people were recovering from. As the border of Bern drew steadily nearer, getting to Lycia stopped being a dream and started becoming a reality.

On the fourth day after traveling, the group came upon a small town. This would be the last town before crossing the border, so resting up and gathering any supplies would be crucial since backtracking was not an option. Especially when the threat of the Ganelon bandits still lingering in the air.

"We've almost reached the Lycian border" Kent informed them as they all stopped to rest just alongside the town outskirts.

"We'll be safe from those bandits once we cross, right?" Lyn asked.

"We should be," Wil answered her, "I doubt they'd be willing to track us down all the way through the mountains just because we've killed a good forty men."

"At last!" Sain said in a singsong, "Lycia, my longest love! It' been too long! I can taste the bountiful food from her gardens already! Not to mention-"

"The mistress of the inn is a beauty?" Michael guessed?

"You know me so well!" Sain said with a grin.

"You certainly have a one track mind…" Kent told him as he rubbed his forehead.

"Speaking of which, we'll be staying at the inn, right?" Wil sked Lyn, almost pleadingly.

"I'm sure we could all use a good night's sleep in a real bed for a change' Lyn told him, giving her approval.

"Yes!" Wil smiled.

"Lady Lyndis, you truly are an angel from on high!" Sain praised her.

"It's nothing," Lyn told him as she waved away his compliment, "If you want to thank anyone, thank Michael for having the money."

"No, please don't-" Michael began.

"Michael, my good friend!" Sain cut him off, "Once we get back to Caelin, I shall show you the finest of women in the land! Of that, you have my solemn oath."

"Thank…?" Michael told him.

"Michael?" Wil asked him.

"Yeah?"

"I love you so much right now."

"No need to mention to Wil," Michael told him, "Not now and not ever again."

"A real bed sounds very comforting right now" Florina sighed as leaned against Huey, who neighed in approval to not being used as a makeshift pillow for a night.

"Seems everyone is in agreement then" Dorcas stated, gathering everyone's consensus.

"It seems so…" Lyn said, not paying attention, instead looking out towards the woods on the other end of the town.

"Lyn…what do you see?" Michael asked, dreading the answer.

"What's a seven letter word for persistent?" Lyn asked him.

"Bandits?! Come on!" Michael complained.

"We have a winner!" Lyn confirmed.

As Lyn finished, several bandits accosted the group, some with threatening looks on their faces, hoping to intimidate the group.

"Here they be!" A bandit that was most likely the leader cried out, his hair unruly and greasy. His eyes dumb and filled with anger.

"Can't these guys just cut their losses and leave us alone?" Wil asked rhetorically.

"Don't think you can get away so easily after incurring the wrath of the Ganelon!" The leader raged.

"We leave her alive and everyone will think we've gone soft!" Another one spoke up.

"Why should we care one bit of your reputation?" Lyn also asked rhetorically. "Get in our way to Lycia and you'll suffer the consequences!"

"Cheeky little thing, ain't ya?" The leader laughed, "We'll fix that for ya. Boys, come and get 'em! No holding back! This time, we wipe them all out!"

"Scatter, guys!" Michael commanded as everyone ran into the woods for cover and to buy some time while Michael came up with a battle strategy.

Nearby the soon to be battlefield, a young woman and her escort were traveling into the heart of the conflict.

The young woman had her shoulder long pink hair tied in two ponytail. Her wide violet eyes carried a constant mischievous glow. Her light purple priestess robes were slightly muddied from the traveling she had done. Her slightly darker colored hood was pulled back so she could see everything around her.

"Where are we NOW?!" She shrieked.

"I believe you were the one who said you were on the right path, hm?" Her escort asked sarcastically.

The escort was a young man. He had wavy purple hair that went down to his shoulders and eyes just as purple that gave off a glint of intelligence. A red mages' cloak covered his blue tunic. His brown pants barely went past his ankles. His large boots were caked in mud from the trek so far.

"And what's your point, Erk?" The pink haired girl asked, "Are you trying to tell me something?"

The boy named Erk suppressed whatever retort came to his mind, instead he opted for a more agreeable explanation, "What I am trying to say is that you are NOT the woman I agreed to escort…"

"And what is that supposed to mean?" The girl asked as she put her hands on her hips.

"I heard someone was needed to escort a frail Lycian priestess to Ostia…" Erk continued.

"Yes, and I am the very priestess" The girl responded coolly.

"Frail? You?" Erk laughed, "Serra, you'd make bandits run for the hills after hearing you screech for five minutes."

The girl named Serra's face contorted in shock.

"Here's your money back," Erk told her as he dug a pouch out of his pocket, "Now can I leave you and go back home? Where everything makes sense?"

"NO!" Serra shrieked, "You're MY escort, Erk! MINE, MINE, MINE! You're only person I've seen so far that's so clean and tidy. Someone as noble as I cannot be seen without a proper escort."

"Cleanliness, how you've proved yourself to be my greatest enemy…" Erk muttered under his breath.

"Besides," Serra continued, "You're not bad to look at, aside from your personality."

"You stole the words right out of my mouth," Erk told her, "Except the first part. I pity the man you end up with."

"WHAT did you say?!" Serra asked.

"Too deaf to hear?" Erk asked sarcastically.

"You know, you're a−" Serra began but cut herself off, "What's that over there?" Serra ran off towards whatever she had heard. For the twelfth time.

Erk let out an exasperated sigh as he stared up at the sky, his arms raised, "If there are any gods or saints in this world, they'll kill me now and end my suffering…"

Nothing happened. "Damn" Erk muttered as he ran after Serra.

"Ok guys, there aren't m−" Michael began to direct everyone as he was cut off by a shriek from what he hoped was a girl.

"Wow! A fight! A fight!"

"Is that the angel of Death I hear?" Sain whispered as he covered his ears.

"Erk! Look! Those bandits are fighting a young girl!" The voice continued.

"It seems to be human" Kent muttered to Sain.

"Fool!" Another voice chastised the other, "Keep your voice down or you'll−"

The voices belonged to a young girl and boy respectively. They seemed to be traveling through at the worst time. Their timing was almost as bad as the bandits. Almost.

"What do we have here?" A Random bandit asked.

"Attract…attention." The boy finished.

"You're in league with that she-devil, ain't ya?" The bandit assumed.

"Um…" The girl considered.

"Don't do this… Please, don't do this…!" The boy pleaded, his eyes closed as he braced himself.

"In that case, I'll take care of the both of you in one strike!" The bandit yelled as he charged forward.

"Erk!" The girl yelled as she ran behind the boy, "Help me!"

"Piercing…eardrums…" Erk let out as he brought out a red book.

As the bandit let an arrow fly, Erk was grazed in his shoulder. In relation, Erk muttered a chant and the book turned into a small fire and hit the bandit, leaving him with severe burns, but still very much alive.

"We should help them" Lyn decided.

"You're telling me," Michael told her, "That poor guy…forced to follow a banshee."

Lyn gave Michael a disapproving look.

"And I assume you LIKE her voice then, am I right?" Michael asked.

Lyn didn't answer him as she ran off toward the two.

"Excuse me?" Lyn sked carefully as she approached the two, being sure to keep her sword in tis sheath to keep the boy from firing another spell her way.

"Yes?" Serra asked.

"Why are you fighting these bandits?" Lyn inquired.

"…He kind of shot me with an arrow," Erk explained, "I think it's pretty obvious."

"That's not true!" Serra spoke up, her tone flaring with annoyance, "Those ruffians thought we were with you! You've put us in terrible situation! How are you going to make it up to us and get us out of here?!"

"Let me just point out that if you didn't scurry over here like a child, we wouldn't be in this situation" Erk pointed out. "Please, feel more than free to ignore her. Elimine, knows I've been trying to."

"If you're going to be fighting your way out anyway," Lyn began, "Why not fight with us? There's safety in numbers."

"That is definitely true…" Serra mused, "Erk! Go help this lady and her friends over there."

"But…" Erk began.

"No 'buts'!" Serra stopped him.

"…Fine" Erk relented.

"That's…good? My name is Lyn," Lyn introduced herself. "Tell me, will you join your arms with ours?"

"We'd be glad to," Serra answered her. "I am Serra. And the quiet one over here is Erk." Serra introduced the both of them.

"Sigh…" Erk responded.

As the two followed Lyn back to the rest of the group, Michael wore a full smile.

"Tell me you got the mage to help us!" Michael begged.

"Yep" Lyn told him.

"Unwillingly, I might add" Erk told him.

"Hush now, Erk!" Serra told him, "Hello, my name is Serra. What might be your name?"

"Michael," Michael answered her, "I'm the tactician of this group."

"Well, Michael," Serra continued, "This contrary little mage named Erk seemed to hurt himself. I am what you would call his 'Master−'"

Erk coughed something suspiciously similar to "Over my dead body!" but it was ignored.

"I was thinking of being a nice little girl and healing him free of charge…"

"You're a healer?" Michael asked in shock.

"The best!" Serra nodded as she took out her heal staff.

"It must be my birthday because we've got not one, but TWO magic users!" Michael announced, "I'm in eternal bliss right now! …Wow, do I sound like Sain right now."

"What?!" Sain asked loudly as he kept his ears covered to stop himself from hearing Serra's shrieks.

"Hello?" Serra asked, directing the conversation back to her, "I believe we were talking about me? Anyway, please direct me to heal whatever wounds that ail you."

At the end of her statement, Serra raised her staff towards Erk and his bleeding shoulder healed on the spot.

With a sigh, Erk flexed his shoulder to see if there was still any pain. "Michael right?" Erk asked.

Michael gave him a nod.

"As I'm sure you saw with how you were gushing earlier, I fight with magic. Allow me to demonstrate how powerful I am by turning that fool who attacked me into ash!"

"Go nuts" Michael told him.

Erk opened his fire tome as he rushed towards the bandit that attacked him earlier and unleashed a fire spell upon him.

The tome burned hot as it transformed into the spell itself as Erk chanted and directed itself at the bandit. As the spell collided with him, the bandit screamed in agony as he was burned to ashes by the flames. Its job done, the fire rebounded towards Erk as it transformed itself back into the tome Erk had previously.

"Well that was certainly graphic…" Wil muttered.

"Don't play with fire if you don't want to get burned" Dorcas told them with the air of a sage around him.

"Well…" Michael let out in a sigh, "There are only a few guys trying to stop us this time. Who wants a go?"

"What?!" Sain yelled again, still covering his ears.

"Oh, for the love of…"Kent muttered as he pulled Sain's hands off his ears, "Do. You. Want. To. Fight. Enemies?"

"Oh," Sain said with a small awkward smile, "Yes, please."

"He's what the first part of the strategy will be," Michael said, ignoring the knights' antics, "There's an axe user to our left. Sain and Kent; I want you two to tag team him. He won't last long in an assault from two finely trained knights such as yourselves."

"…Was that a compliment?" Kent asked, "A serious one?"

"Yes, Kent" Michael told him as he turned toward everyone else, Sain and Kent riding off to meet their foe, "Wil and Florina, there's a sword wielder by that house."

As Michael pointed it out, both of them looked over to the house in question, the sword wielder glaring maliciously at the occupants inside.

"Wil, shoot him in the sword arm. Florina, once he's dropped his sword, go clean him up."

"No problem!" Wil smiled at him as he gave a thumbs ups.

"I-I'll do my b-best" Florina stuttered as she mounted Huey, who gave a battle cry.

"Lyn," Michael began to direct again, "I'm pretty sure that there are more enemies close to where Florina and Wil are being sent out, go cover Florina when she goes in for the killing blow."

"No need to say it twice" Lyn nodded as she waved to Wil and Florina to get them moving.

"And me?" Dorcas asked him.

"You're going to stick by Serra and me and make sure no one tries cut us in two."

Dorcas gave a grunt of approval.

"Wait, what did you just say?" Serra asked, hoping she misheard.

"You should probably get your hearing checked" Michael told her, not wanting to repeat himself.

Erk laughed into his sleeve as Serra's face went lightly red.

"We'll be moving out the enemy across the pond" Michael informed them.

"I'd better not get my dress wet…" Serra mumbled as they began to walk over.

The lone bandit that Sain and Kent were sent to deal with tried to fight back as best he could, but whenever he had a chance to strike, Kent and Sain's horses always kicked back out of his range. With every missed strike, Kent and Sain would begin to circle him closer and closer, until one of them were close enough to lope off his head with a single swipe of their sword. Safety in numbers. And their group definitely had the numerical advantage.

The first arrow Wil nocked gained the sword wielder's attention as it flew by his nose, barely scratching it as it flew by. This was a ruse to get the sword wielder to turn around in order to give Wil a better shot, who soon had the perfect view to snipe him from as he shot more arrows. The second arrow was blocked by the bandit's sword, while the third one dug itself right in the bandit's sword hand, ingraining itself firmly into his wrist. Taking the opportunity as the bandit dropped his sword in pain, Florina dove out of the sky on Huey and slammed her lance into his head, crushing his skull.

A bandit hiding in the nearby hills saw his ally fall, and quickly ran towards Florina, Huey having gained too much momentum to evade in incoming blow properly as well as Florina trying to pull out her lance from the now dead bandit's head. As the bandit raised his axe, Lyn emerged from a tree she had propped herself in and jumped down to meet the bandit's blow. In shock, the bandit took a step back, giving Wil the opening to shoot an arrow into the shoulder of the arm where the bandit carried his axe. As the bandit doubled-back in pain, Lyn performed a clean vertical slash that may as well have cut the bandit in two with how much blood began to pour out. The bandit fell to the ground unconscious as he continued to bleed out.

Michael surveyed both group's performances with a glint of approval in his eyes as he predicted what his enemies would do. Halfway across the pond, Michael spied an archer ready to run into position to attack Lyn and Florina. Wil was too far away from either of them to see him, and Michael wouldn't be able to tell them without alerting the enemy to their location.

"Dorcas!" Michael yelled in a whisper as he went to his knees and hid behind some bushes.

Assuming danger, Dorcas bent down on his knees as he went next to Michael, Serra and Erk copying his action.

"There's an archer about to unleash a surprise attack on Lyn and Florina," Michael explained as he pointed to the archer's location, "I want you to get as close as possible and give him a surprise of his own compliments of your hand axe."

"Dorcas looked over his shoulder to where Michael was pointing and snorted at the archer, a smug smile on his face. "Consider him dead" Dorcas told Michel as he began to stealthily make his way over.

A minute passed by in silence as the three awaited Dorcas's return.

"What are we supposed to do now?!" Serra yelled at Michael in a whisper.

"Not alerting the guy with a sword to our location might be a good option?" Erk asked somewhat sarcastically.

"No DUH, Erk!" Serra yelled, a bit too loud for any of them to like. Serra covered her mouth as she realized how loudly she had yelled, but the damage had already been done.

"There they are!" The sword wielder yelled.

"…Damn it…" Erk sighed as he turned around to face the bandit.

"Through fire and flames we'll carry on" Michael sighed as he gave Erk the signal to attack.

As Erk began to chant his spell, the sword wielder cut through the underbrush. In a panic, still chanting the spell, Erk tried to sidestep out of the bandit's attack radius, but he received a long cut across his chest for his troubles. Erk grunted in pain as the bandit laughed believing Erk to no longer be an obstacle.

Not breaking the chant, Erk placed his tome right in front of the bandit's face and smiled evilly as the tome turned into a fire yet again and hit the bandit pointblank in his face. The bandit screamed in agony as the flames charred his skin as he fell over backwards.

"Ow…" Erk let out with unease as he slumped over backwards clutching his wound.

"What are you waiting for?" Michael asked Serra, "Heal him!"

In shock Serra had done nothing but freeze in terror as the bandit approached them, but with Michael's jarring, she was out of her comatose state. Gingerly, Serra placed her heal staff on Erk' chest and concentrated her magic, Erk's wound slowly closing.

"I'll admit; this time that was my fault" Serra muttered in apology.

"Please don't make a habit of that" Michael asked, dreading what kind of situations Serra's uncontrollable shrieking could put them in.

"My blood says 'thank you' in advance for not doing that ever again" Erk chimed in.

"…I hate both of you" Serra huffed softly.

The three continued to wait, this time in complete silence. A few more minutes went by before some rustling could be heard off in the direction Dorcas went off in.

Alert, Erk began to chant his spell, but a voice broke through, "Relax. I've got everyone with me" Dorcas's voice assured them.

As Erk stopped his chant, Dorcas appeared from the foliage along with everyone else with him.

"Thanks for sending Dorcas our way" Lyn thanked Michael as she walked through, "That archer would've shot Florina while she was vulnerable."

"A-a-archers…" Florina muttered as she shivered.

"What happened?" Michael asked, slightly concerned.

"I threw my axe at him while he was prepping his shot," Dorcas told him, "Didn't hit him, but I broke the arrow head. Spooked him something fierce" Dorcas huffed.

"What else?" Michael asked.

"He looked over in my direction and saw me coming at him with my iron axe. Poor guy never knew what hit him."

"The guy's aiming skills put mine to shame" Wil added.

"I wish I had seen that…" Michael said off track.

"About that last bandit…" Kent said, bringing everyone back to reality.

"The one brute that's never heard of the word 'bath'?" Sain asked.

"Speaking of baths," Michael trailed off again, "I think we could all use one. Let's kill this annoyance and be done with it."

At Michael's comment, everyone looked themselves over, some finding themselves disgustingly aware of their own stench from days to continuous travel.

"I second that motion" Lyn agreed as she began to move out towards the direction of the bandit leader.

As the group approached the bandit, he cried out, "What happened to my men?!"

"Either dead or chocking on their own blood" Erk pointed out.

"You'd think that be obvious?" Michael agreed.

"You've got some nerve!" The bandit leader yelled. "I'll show you why you all should fear Ganelon! I'll carve out my fame in your corpses! All shall fear the name Bug!"

"…Bug?" Everyone said in a deadpan monotone voice.

"Let me handle this" Lyn announced to everyone as they all were still stunned by the bandit's name.

"Think you can take me all by yourself, girlie?" Bug asked in a condescending tone.

"Could you answer me one question, Bug, was it?" Lyn asked.

"And what you that be?" Bug asked back.

"Do you bandits not know of when to cut your losses and let something go?"

"Ha!" Bug laughed. "As long as you draw breath, we'll never stop! We'll hunt you till that day you die! Speaking of which, DIE!" Bug jumped into the air attempted to bring his axe down on Lyn's head. Lyn drew her iron sword and prepared to dodge.

Lyn was too fast and skilled for her to fall into Bug's grasp and leapt to his right. Compared to every other enemy the group had faced so far, Bug and his group had proved to be the least threatening yet. As Bug took a wild swing towards his right at Lyn and yet again, he missed. Taking the all too great chance before her, Lyn stabbed him through the lung and pulled out her blade as she jumped back.

"S-scum…"Bug breathed out in a raspy voice as he fell to the ground, "Scum…all of you…"

"Looks like the Bug," Michael said, "Just got squashed."

The more open-minded and easy going members of the group let out a small laugh, while the more serious members just sighed at Michael's attempt at a joke.

"Can't please everyone!" Michael said as he shrugged his shoulders.

"That should do it for now" Lyn said as she walked back over to the group.

"You're very strong for a young lady, Lyn" Serra told her as she walked over.

"Thank you" Lyn blushed, "And your staff magic is a wondrous thing. I wished I was as gifted."

"Only those with pure souls can wield them," Serra told her, "I'm quite lucky in that regard."

"Pure spoiled brat, more like" Erk whispered to Michael, to which Michael giggled.

"Since the bandits are done with now, I believe our team up is done with. We must be on our way" Lyn announced.

"Take care" Serra said in farewell.

"Goodbye to you too, Erk" Lyn said.

"Please take me with you…" Erk begged.

"But lady Lyndis!" Sain begged, "Didn't you promise us a night's repose at the local inn?!"

"Oh, your royalty, Lyn?" Serra asked.

"She is the granddaughter of the marquess of House Caelin!" Sain informed her.

"Caelin?! I'm in service to House Ostia" Serra informed, "Such an important person wandering around is bound to get into some dangerous situations…" Serra muttered as the gears in her mind began to turn.

"I don't like where this is going…" Erk winced.

"Having a royal in our debt can prove to be a very rewarding opportunity" Serra whispered to Erk, "Well very! We've come to agreement that we shall lend Lyndis our aid!" Serra announced.

"Looks like we're adding some fire power to our arsenal!" Michel cheerfully stated.

"We could use all the help we could get…" Kent added.

"Are you in some sort of trouble?" Serra asked.

"Let's just say my granduncle and I are having a little…dispute" Lyn told her. "It's a complicated situation."

"In that case our magic will really come in handy!" Serra smiled.

"Oh, boy!" Erk stated dully, "Danger. What's an adventure without it?"

"Of course now we have a new problem," Dorcas notified the rest of the group, "What kind of inn will take all of us now?"

"At least the weather's nice?" Michael pointed out as the rest of the group save Lyn groaned.

As the group's latest victory sunk in, over at Castle Caelin, Lord Lundgren was losing his patience.

"Has the girl crossed the border yet?" Lundgren asked one of his soldiers.

"Not yet, milord," The solider answered, "But she should pass any day now."

"Then send out soldiers and be done with her, you fool!" Lundgren yelled, "And double the dose of my brother's poison! I want him a breath away from death!"

"Y-yes sir!" The soldier stuttered as he began to run to collect troops and prepare a new poison, "Right away sir!"

As the soldier left the room, Lundgren spoke to himself, "I will have that girl's head at my feet if it is the last thing I do…I'll make sure my brother has the most glorious of surprises during his final moments…"


	11. Interlude 5: Eavesdropping

Interlude 5: Eavesdropping

**Author's Notes:** I had FUN writing this! There comes a time where every dog has his day, and for our little dog Sain, this was that time. Quite honestly, I think that would be the only thing Serra would care about in this situation. What breaks down barriers and makes friendships better than talking about boy?!

Enjoy, guys!

After the battle with the bandits, the group (Now named Lyndis's Legion, thanks to Michael deciding to keep the name Sain came up with) stayed at the local inn that night. This would most likely be the last and only inn they would have a chance to sleep in after crossing the border into Bern. With Lord Lundgren's territory drawing near, there would no doubt be enemies around every corner from now on.

Unfortunately, the inn only had a room left for four people. It was decided that Lyn, Florina, and Serra would be three of the occupants for the last room. Lyn, being the leader was granted a bed, while Florina would be too nervous around so many men, and Serra insisted that since there was enough room for all of the girls that they should all be in the same room. In the end it came down to deciding which male would sleep in the room with the girls. Sain, while quick to volunteer himself, was shot down by both Kent and Michael. Dorcas and Erk both withdrew from the little lottery in favor of sleeping outside. Since it was originally Wil's idea to sleep in an inn, Michael opted to give the spot to Wil, which Kent agreed to. But within minutes, Wil came back outside.

"Why'd you come back out?" Michael asked him.

"It felt…awkward…"Wil told him, "Being the only guy in there with three girls."

"It seems we have a sausage-fest then…" Sain muttered.

"So let me get this straight," Erk began, counting off the reasons on his hands, "The girls got the beds solely for the fact they are girls, the only guy that wanted to go in and sleep in the room was denied that privilege immediately, the people least likely to try anything have no interest in being in that position, and the guy that came up with the idea to sleep here decided that he would be awkward being the only guy. Am I right?"

"That seems to be the gist of it" Kent agreed.

"Just wanted to make sure…" Erk muttered.

"For those of you who are curious," Dorcas told the young men, "There's a hole in the wall where the girl's room is. If you wanted to listen in on their conversation, if they're having one, you'd be able to."

"Sir Dorcas…" Kent began.

"What did you do…"Michael continued for him.

"You wonderful man!" Sain finished.

"Sain!" Kent threatened Sain, "I know what you are thinking of doing, and if you think I'll allow you to do as you please you'll be sorely mistaken!"

"And what pray tell, do you think I will do?" Sain asked innocently, a wide smile on his face.

"Don't go acting innocent, Sain."

"But Kent, my dear man! I know that you know that the time it will take you to run after me will be more than enough time for me to get over to the girl's wall and being to listen in on them. I also know that you know that you will begin to lecture me as soon as you catch me. Your yelling will be noticed by the lovely ladies inside and as a result, you shall be dragged down to whatever Hell I go to with me."

"That almost sounds stupid enough to actually happen!" Wil commented, his eyes wide in shock.

"Are he…always so…" Erk began.

"Passionate?" Michael guessed.

"Depraved?" Erk corrected.

"I personally think he just need to get the excess pseudo-philandering out of his system" Dorcas added, "Should pass by once he's listened in for a bit."

"And I swear on my honor as a knight and as a man that whatever I hear shall never leave my lips!" Sain swore as he put his left hand over his heart and raised his right.

"Absolutely not" Kent told Sain flat out.

"You get ten minutes" Michael told Sain.

Everyone present took a moment to look at Michael in surprise before speaking up.

"Come again?" Dorcas asked, almost unsure about what he just heard.

"I think Michael's broken" Wil said in slight shock.

"You can't be serious!" Kent yelled in denial.

"Didn't see that coming" Erk mentioned.

"Michael," Sain said in a high voice as he reached out his arms in order to hug him, "I've found that my heart is suddenly big enough to love a man as much as I love you right now!"

"Sain" Michael said sternly as he tried to pull himself free from Sain's hug, "This chance doesn't come without conditions."

"All you need to do is tell me and I shall abide by them" Sain assured him.

"First; you only have ten minutes, as I said earlier. No more no less. After that you leave and come back. Second, I am going with you to make sure you adhere to the first condition. Third, under NO CIRCUMSTANCES ARE YOU allowed to peek in the girl's room. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal clear!" Sain answered.

"But what about a punishment should he not adhere to all of the conditions?" Kent asked, desperately trying to keep Sain's limit temporary freedom.

"We tell the girls he snuck out during the night and spied on them" Michael told him.

"You would go about proving that…how?" Erk asked.

"This is Sain we're talking about," Michael explained, "He wouldn't do much else at this hour. Besides, we'll all testify against him anyway."

"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned" Dorcas reminded everyone.

"Dorcas?" Wil asked, "Did you ever get Natalie mad at you?"

"Once" Dorcas answered as a shiver went through him.

"But…Natalie's was such a sweet woman…"Wil said in shock.

"Even the kindest of individuals has a darker side. You don't live long in this world unless you do."

"I second that opinion" Michael agreed.

"Before this goes on any longer and any joy I have at this prospect is crushed into a million tiny pieces," Sain poked in, "How about we get going, Michael?"

"Ten minutes" Michael reminded him.

"And I shall remember every second of it…" Sain sighed dreamily to himself as he began to walk around the inn, Michael close behind.

As the two turned around the corner, Erk turned to Dorcas and asked, "How DID you find out about that wall again?"

"The couple in charge of the inn told me," Dorcas informed him, "They each had a knowing smile on their face as they pulled me to the side and told me. Makes you think, doesn't it?"

"All this makes me think is about me going back home" Erk told him.

Seeing them walk off like that makes me want to follow" Wil said honestly.

"Sir Wil?" Kent asked.

"Yes?"

"Don't even dare" Kent warned him.

As the windows of the girls' room came into view, Sain and Michael went down to a crouching crawl as they made their way over. Sain was trying his best to control the inane giggling he had been doing since they started walking. Michael instantly regretted allowing Sain the chance to do this. But as they say, hindsight is twenty-twenty.

With a little search and feeling around the wall, Sain found the small hole Dorcas had told them all about. The hole was barely more than an inch tall and wide, but it was perfect for spying on the voice coming from the interior of the room.

"So ladies…" A voice that unmistakably belonged to Serra asked, "You've been traveling with some handsome men in your company. Are there any men that catch your fancy?"

"N-n-n-n-o-o-o-o-o-o!" Florina' voice stuttered in panic, "N-n-never!"

"What an innocent reaction!" Serra laughed, "That's so cute! I bet you have the men all eating out of the palm of your hand!"

"Now, now, Serra," Lyn's voice sighed, "Florina isn't that kind of girl. She's more afraid of men than she is of bees."

"Why bees?" Serra's voice asked.

"P-p-p-please don't tell t-t-that story!" Florina begged.

"Come on, I won't tell a soul!" Serra's voice pushed.

"Serra…" Lyn's voice turned a little threatening.

"Oh, fine. Nothing from the little Pegasus girl, but what about you, Lady Lyndis?"

"What about me?"

"Is there not any young men you've taken a fancy to?"

"Well…" Lyn's voice went off for a moment, "There is one…But it's not like I'm in love with him or anything! It just…feels nice to be around him. Like I'm at peace whenever I'm with him."

"Can I please get a straight yes or no?" Serra's voice asked, sounding a little annoyed by the runaround.

"Maybe. Is that enough of an answer?" Lyn's voice asked.

"I suppose it will have to do…me, on the other hand, I find those two knights quite attractive. I think it's something about a man in uniform that I just find…alluring."

"…Kent and Sain?" Florina's voice spoke up, "Better you than me."

"What?!" Serra's asked in shock for a moment, "Where's this sudden attitude come from?!"

"Whatever your tastes are is your business" Lyn's voice told Serra.

"I can't tell if you're both messing with me or being serious!" Serra's voice shrieked, "I demand you both stop making a fool of me!"

"Tempter, temper!" Florina's voice said in singsong.

"Time to go, Sain" Michael whispered.

"What?!" Sain let out in a whisper, "And just when the juicy bits are finished?"

"Fine…" Sain sighed a little too loudly.

"Did you hear that?" Lyn's voice spoke up.

Michael and Sain's eyes widened in shock. "Uh oh!" They both aid to each other.

"Hear what?' Serra's voice asked.

"From the window" Lyn's voice told her, "There was a noise."

"Run!" Sain told Michael as they ran as fast as they could while crouched.

Lyn opened the window of the room and peered outside. There was nothing but grass and leave swaying in the night breeze.

"Nothing…" Lyn murmured.

"Maybe it was bees" Serra said jokingly.

"N-no!" Florina screamed as she hid under the bed.

"I was joking!" Serra told her. "Lady Lyndis? Where are you going?"

"To check on something with the guys" Lyn told her.

"How went the spying?" Kent asked as the duo returned.

"Better than expected" Sain told him with a smile.

"We've learned that Serra thinks both of you are attractive" Michael informed him.

"And that's a good thing?" Erk asked from his cot that he set up in the time the two had been gone.

"At least one woman finds him attractive" Sain joked.

"Have you calmed down now?" Dorcas asked as he sharpened his axe with a whetstone.

"I'd say I am…appeased for now" Sain told him.

"You better be," Michael told him, "Because we're never ding that again!"

"Doing what again?" Lyn asked as she walked up behind him.

"Lyn!" Michael yelled as he jumped back, "Um…stargazing!"

"Stargazing?" Lyn asked skeptically, her gaze fixed upon Michael.

"Yeah!" Michael nodded as he looked to Sain for reassurance.

"Yes, indeed!" Sain caught on as he nodded his head as well.

"Stargazing" Lyn said in monotone, her gaze felt as if it dug into Michael's soul.

"Stargazing" Everyone else said in unison.

"Okay. Well, do you think you can look around the area really quick? I heard something outside our window and I think whatever it is may still around."

"We'll make a search party and give the area a once over" Wil told her.

"Thanks," Lyn told him, "Goodnight, guys."

"Night!" They all said s Lyn walked back into the inn.

As Lyn closed the door behind her, Michael crashed down onto the ground.

"I felt like I was in the jaws of the Beast!" Michael sighed.

"I take it you're not used to the whole 'lying' idea?" Sain asked.

"I've never had a reason TO lie before now," Michael told him, "Well, except on one-no two- no three occasions! Well, make that four now…"

"And the award for best actor goes to…" Erk muttered.

"Sain," Kent glared at Sain, "Would you mind informing me TRUTHFULLY about your actions during your little eavesdropping adventure?"

"I did nothing wrong!" Sain told him, "You can even ask Michael!"

"He was a good boy" Michael told Kent.

"So about finding out who Serra liked," Wil inquired, "Did the others say who they liked as well?"

"Lady Florina has no infatuations," Sain informed him, "Meanwhile, Lady Lyndis has something akin to love for a man among us, but it is not true love yet. Only a small fancy."

"I'm quite curious about that in all actuality…" Michael admitted.

"The Boss showing interest?" Dorcas asked, now paying attention to the conversation, "I am now listening."

"Don't even make a joke about that, Dorcas" Michael warned him, though there was no inkling of anger or annoyance in his voice.

"Just teasing," Dorcas assured him, "Have to get my kicks somewhere, right?"

"I did not know you were truly capable of joking, Sir Dorcas" Sain told him.

"I'm also capable of chopping off people's limbs, but you knew that already, didn't you?" Dorcas asked him. "You'd be surprised to know what I'm really capable of."

"Threat noticed!" Sain told him as he turned away to break eye contact.

"How am I supposed to sleep with you idiots still talking?!" Erk asked angrily as he turned in his cot.

"By moving somewhere else" Wil told him in a partially annoyed tone, "Seriously, grow a funny bone already."

"Back home," Erk told him, "If someone was trying to sleep, everyone would quite down and let them sleep. Obviously things are different on the outside."

"Obviously," Wil told him, "There are trees and flowers outside!" Wil giggled at his joke.

"Keep calm, Erk" Erk told himself, "It could be worse. You could be rooming with Serra right now."

"How about we all hit the hay before we wind up killing each other?" Michael asked, hoping to keep Erk and Wil from butting head any further. Everyone grunted in agreement.

"I need to fall asleep quickly so I can relive those glorious then minutes all over again!" Sain said happily as he turned into his cot.

That was the most peaceful sleep anyone of Lyndis's Legion ever had since the beginning of their adventure. But little did they know that they were closer to someone's home than they ever realized.


	12. Chapter 6: Blood of Pride

Chapter 6: Blood of Pride

**Author's Notes: **So you guys liked that last chapter? I think it has been my greatest bit of genius for this entire fic so far. But humor has never been my forte. Speaking of which, I think it's time for the general humor to leave and make way for some serious stuff! For those of you who like the humor, its still in this chapter. Just expect it to disappear later on in this chapter and be replaced by some serious plot. Speaking of which, new plot point for this fic. I'll let you all think of where I'm going with this...

"Must we truly stop here?" Michael asked as they stopped at the city's outskirts, his face becoming pale as they closed in on the castle.

"Why wouldn't we?" Kent asked him back, "Araphen has long been friends with Caelin. They would be the most likely to give us aid. After all, the more soldiers we have on our side, the better."

"I know," Michael told him, "But all I'm saying is that couldn't we look anywhere else besides here?"

"Why are you so against it?" Lyn asked him.

"I…" Michael began, "No, it's nothing. Never mind. Forget I said anything."

"Don't be such a stick in the mud," Serra told him, "It's not like we'll be sending you to ask for aid."

'Exactly!" Sain agreed, "That's sounds like its right up Kent's alley!"

"Better I go than you," Kent told him, "The marquess has a young granddaughter. I'd rather you not be around her if at all possible."

"Please!" Sain huffed, "That young lady is not even fifteen yet! I have standards…and self-control."

"You know," Erk chimed in, "The more time we sit here and talk, the more time we waste?"

"Which is all the more time given for our enemies to prepare for an attack" Dorcas jumped in.

"I'd rather we be attacked than stay here…" Michael muttered to himself.

"Last time Florina and I did a Pegasus run we didn't find anyone following us" Wil reminded them as Florina shuddered at the memory of the flight.

"I shall get a move on then," Kent announced, "I shall return once a compromise has been made."

With a salute, Kent rode off towards the direction of Araphen's castle, where the marquess and his family reside.

It was a day like any other for the marquess of Araphen. His territory was among the greatest of Lycia and his city has flourished under his rule for many years. His people were loyal to him, as were the knights that he charged with protecting his castle and his family. He was a man living on high. He had a loyal, promising and handsome son with his now late wife, a beautiful and polite daughter-in-law, and an adorable granddaughter that he just lived to dot on. The marquess truly believed life could not get any better than it was now. He was wrong.

To make matters even better, one of this messengers had informed him that a knight from Caelin had begged for an audience with him regarding aid to his young liege. This would be the perfect opportunity to increase the amount of land and power he held in Lycia. He would carve out a path for his family that would lead them to generations of prosperity. As he stepped into his throne room, he called out to one of his knights on guard duty,

"Escort the knight from Caelin in" The marquess said to a nearby knight as he sat down on his throne.

"At once, Sire!" The knight saluted as he ran off to fetch his visitor.

"Grandfather!" A young voice cried as the steps low heels clicked against the brick of the castle, "Grandfather, will you tell me another story of you and Grandmother?"

This young girl, no older than fourteen, ran into the room. She had shoulder length hazel hair that was kept neat and controlled in a single ponytail. A trait she inherited from her father. His eyes were large and were an emerald green. She stood barely up to the marquess's elbows, but he could see in a few more years that she would be almost as tall as he was. Her purple royal grab was sliding against the floor as usual, her insisting that her clothes not be tailored to match her current height. A trait she inherited from her mother. Though the marquess could not place the blame solely on her parents, for she had a stubborn streak that was in no small part the marquess's fault for doting her so much.

"Ah, Uriel!" The marquess greeted his granddaughter as she ran into the throne room from one of its hallways. "I'm afraid I cannot entertain you with another story of Martha and I until I am done conversing with a guest that has just arrived. This guest is a member of the knighthood of Caelin, you see."

Uriel began to pout, "Can't it wait until later?" Uriel looked up into her grandfather's eyes, her own big and pleading.

"Alas, your father tried the very same ploys on myself," The marquess chuckled at his granddaughter, "I'm afraid business will have to come first. Where are your parents? Can they not entertain you for some time?"

"Father's practicing his swordplay and mother preparing for some stupid luncheon" Uriel explained.

"I'm sure you can wait patiently for me to finish my meeting first. Why not go play in the garden?"

"There are bees all over this time of year grandfather!"

"I'm sure they won't be a bother to you unless you provoke them. Go on now, I'll come find you as soon as I'm done."

"Okay! Remember; you promised!" Uriel told her grandfather as she scampered off.

And not a moment too soon as the knight the marquess had sent off earlier had returned with the Caelin knight.

"Marquess Araphen" The knight greeted the marquess as he dropped to a low bow.

"Please, raise you head" The marquess told him, "Yours is a station of great import to the greatest territory in Lycia. You need not bow to me. We are equals since this is a matter than can benefit both of us."

"Milord" The knight thanked him as he rose. "What do you mean by booth of s benefiting, if both of us, if I may inquire?"

"That can wait," The marquess answered him, "Might I inquire as to your name, Sir Knight?"

"It is Kent, milord" The knight answered.

"Well then, Kent," The marquess began, "Lord Lundgren has been steadily sending his troops throughout all of Lycia. Several of his men have even made their way into my territory. It does not sit well that he is doing this. Though there has been nothing going on that provides I think otherwise, I believe Lundgren is up to something ghastly."

"It is as you fear, milord," Kent confirmed his suspicions, "Lord Lundgren is roaming the lands in search of my liege; the true heir of the Caelin throne. Lundgren wishes to eliminate her so he may gain possession of the throne without contest."

The marquess grimaced as Kent filled him in on information he was sorely lacking. "Then this is no simple policing of the land gone over paranoid. This is of the highest forms of treason! This is both regicide and prolicide!"

Kent nodded at the marquess's words, "Which is why we have come here asking for aid. In our journey we have already met the hired hands of Lundgren's greed. This is why we've come here requesting aid of any kind."

"Well believe me, Sir Kent, as long as I've the men and supplies you need, consider them of your own use as you see fit. Lundgren will not have his way so easily."

"Truly?! Thank you, marquess Araphen! I shall go inform my liege at once and return with her!"

As Kent left the room, marquess Araphen leaned back in his seat as he let out a large sigh. "This situation truly grew out of control swiftly, did it not?"

The marquess sat in solitude for a moment pondering the possible consequences of his choice when a soldier ran into the throne room in a panic.

"M-marquess Araphen!" The soldier yipped.

"Whatever is the matter, my good man?" The marquess inquired.

"A fire! In the garden!" The soldier told him.

"What?!" The marquess shouted as he jumped out of his throne.

"We fear it may be a direct attack on the castle!" The solider told him.

"What of Uriel?! Is she safe?!" The marques asked.

"She has been safely escorted to one of the secret safe rooms" The solider informed him.

"And what of Camael and Gabriel?! What of my son and daughter?!"

"The same as Lady Uriel. They are being kept in the north passageway."

"Good. Alert the soldiers! I want the fires out and the culprits apprehended! They will rue the day they attacked my home!"

Back in the city, everyone was restlessly awaiting the return of Kent, hopefully with good news regarding reinforcements and more equipment. It had been over an hour since he had left for the castle and not one minute of it had been any good for Michael. Though, Michael could swear that there was a young man in a cloak was circling the group. For the seventh time now Michael had seen the young man's face in the crowd around the group as he aimlessly went from shop to shop, browsing wares but not purchasing anything. No one else had noticed this young man's behavior except Michael. Michael had decided to keep this to himself, but he was keeping a watchful eye on the young man.

"Anyone else hungry?" Wil asked absentmindedly as his stomach growled.

"We'll get something to eat after Kent's return" Lyn promised him.

"Whatever IS taking Kent so long?" Sain wondered, "I hope he isn't chatting up the marquess just to get in his good books. We could be here all day with his people skills!"

"Give Kent some credit," Michael told him, "He does his job well."

"The guy's dedicated" Dorcas grunted in agreed.

"Speaking of which…"Erk began.

"Here comes the dashing knight now!" Serra finished.

"What ho, Kent!" Sain greeted Kent as he returned, Kent's face light up in happiness.

"Lady Lyndis!" Kent said, "I've come with terrific news! The marquess has agreed to give us aid!"

"Terrific!" Lyn agreed!"

"Joy…" Michael sighed crossly.

"What's up your derrière?" Serra asked him.

"None of your business" Michael snapped at her.

"I recommend you meet with the marquess so you can personally determine what we will need" Kent recommended.

"I'll be sure to do just that," Lyn told him, "Let's make our way now."

There were some gasps and looks on the citizens' faces ranging from mild confusion to shock to simply horrified. Some people even began to run away.

"The castle is on fire!" A random villager yelled as he ran past the group.

"What are those men doing?!" Another one asked as a group of men armed with swords came running by, with every citizen in the vicinity running away from them.

Three of the men from the group broke off and made way for Lyndis's Legion.

"You!" One of the men yelled as he broke into Lyn's personal space, "You're Lyndis, aren't you?"

"What?" Lyn asked, "What do you-"

"No questions!" The man asked, "Prepare to meet your end!" The man said as he produced a knife to stab Lyn with.

It happened in an instant before anyone could react, but the man just as soon slumped to the ground dead as he brandished his knife, an arrow lodged firmly in his back. As the man slumped over, a man on a horse came into view behind everyone. The man's allies retreated as they saw their comrade fall.

The man wore a bandanna that kept his green hair in place. His bangs nearly covered his green eyes that held a look of nothingness. His face was stern and grim, as if he had experienced the worst in life. He wore robes similar to Lyn's, though his were brown and he wore long pants along with leather hunting boots. In his arms was a single bow.

A few seconds went by in silence before Michael jumped to Lyn's side, "Lyn! Are you alright?!"

In follow up to Michael's lead, Kent and Sain jumped to her side as well.

"I'm fine…" Lyn assured them, "This man saved me. Who are you?"

The man remained silent as he began to usher his gorse to move on, but Lyn called out to him,

"Wait! Why did you help me?"

"I thought a Sacaean plainswoman was being attacked," The man answered, "I was mistaken."

"No! You were right!" Lyn corrected him, "I am from Sacae. I am Lyn, of the Lorca tribe."

"The Lorca?" The man asked in shock, "So there were survivors…"

Lyn gave him a nod.

"You should leave at once," The man told them, "A huge blaze has started in the castle, and it's spreading. Don't do anything foolish to waste the life I just saved."

"Are you from the castle?" Lyn asked, "What's happening?"

"How severe is the fire?" Kent jumped in, "Is the marquess safe?"

"Who cares…?" Michael mumbled under his breath.

"The castle is under attack," The man told Kent, "And the marquess has been accosted. The man who attacked you was most likely one of the marauders. As the head of the castle guard, I must see to the marquess's safety."

"I'll help" Lyn told him, her mind already made up.

"Lyn?" Michael asked in disbelief.

"Those men knew my name. They were after me. This whole incident is partly my fault. It's only right I help correct it" Lyn told everyone.

"…I am Rath of the Kutolah" The man introduced himself, "Our tribes may be different, but I will help any woman of Sacae."

"A thousand blessings upon you" Lyn thanked him.

"And a thousand curse upon our enemy!" Rash told her.

In a small tiff, Michael took a quick walk away from the group, where he saw the young man from earlier run into a nearby house. It would be best to nip that bud before it grew its thorns.

"Michael!" Lyn called to him, "Come back here! We need to devise our plan of attack!"

Michael slinked back to the rest of the group, burying his anger lest it cloud his judgment later.

"We'll have to take care of these men out here before my men can move in and secure the marquess," Rath explained, "Luckily, the marquess has several hidden passageways to the throne room should the usual entrance be locked or barricaded."

"Ah, those places" Michael muttered.

"You know of them?" Rath asked, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"Leave the interrogation for later," Michael told Rath, "Right now…saving the marquess is our top concern." Michael let out those last few words as if he was swallowing horrible medicine.

"We will need keys to gain entrance to the secret passageways" Rath told them.

"The marauders will have keys on them" Michael said with absolute certainty.

"How would you know?" Lyn asked.

"I'm pretty sure they're not going to ask nicely for the marques to open up for them" Michael told her in response.

"Then they are to be our main targets" Lyn reasoned.

"Maybe not…"Michael told her.

"What little scheme are you plotting?" Dorcas asked as he smiled.

"We were being followed earlier" Michael told them.

"We were?" Sain and Wil asked in unison.

"And you didn't tell us…WHY?" Serra asked.

"He was hoping the guy would take care of you first" Erk replied drily.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Dorcas asked, "I could've gotten rid of him."

"Don't act on suspicion" Michael told him, "That's one of the first rules to battle tactics. You wait until you have solid evidence to go through with an action. Besides, this guy just might help us with some…'convincing'."

"Did you see where this rouge went?" Sain asked.

"House over there" Michael pointed towards the house to the north.

"I shall go see if he can't offer his services then" Lyn decided.

"I'll come with" Michael told her.

"If anyone is to come attack us in your absence?" Kent asked, already knowing the answer.

"Introduce them to the sharp end of your weapons" Michael told him.

"Sad to say mine doesn't have a sharp side…"Erk added.

"Show them your hot stuff, then" Michael told him as he walked, away, Erk slowly clapping in sarcasm at the pun.

Slowly, Michael opened the door, Lyn's hand hovering over her iron sword just in case the young man attacked first.

"Well, hello there!" A voice greeted them.

Alone in the kitchen of the house, was the young man Michael had seen earlier.

The young man had spikey dirty blonde hair. His almond colored eyes had a glint that told you he could help you just as soon as steal from you blind. He wore a light green tunic with a red cloak over it. His pants were thin and white and he wore leather shoes.

"Who are you?" Lyn asked cautiously as she kept her hand hovering over her sword.

"I'm not enemy of yours, that' for sure!" The young man said as he raised his hands in surrender.

"You may not be an enemy," Michael told him, "But you aren't an ally either. I saw you keeping tabs on our group for the last hour."

"It appears like I was caught" The young man chuckled as he shook his head.

"What's your name?" Lyn asked him.

"Matthew," The young man answered her, "A specialist in acquisition of all kinds."

"I don't need a thief-" Lyn began.

"Yes! Yes, we do!" Michael interrupted her, "Matthew, how does lining your wallets with royal treasure sound to you?"

"I'd say you've piqued my interest" Matthew responded.

"We've a mission to make our way to the marquess inside the castle," Michal explained, "There are secret passageways we can use to reach him. I'm more than certain there is some amount of treasure hidden away in them. Whatever you find is yours."

"You have a deal" Matthew told him.

"Why would a thief agree to our terms?" Lyn asked.

"Simple really," Matthew told her, "You have a sword and your friend here has promised gold. Who am I to refuse?"

"Less talking and more lock picking!" Michael ordered Matthew as he opened the door to walk back outside.

"Time for work…" Matthew muttered as he opened the door for Lyn.

"Matthew," Michael said as Matthew and Lyn walked outside, "about one hundred paces to our left is one of the chambers holding one of the switches to open a secret passageway. The door's locked. I assume you've a lock pick on your person?"

"What thief would be caught dead without one?" Matthew responded as he ran off in the direction Michael had told him.

"How do you know so much?" Lyn asked him curiously.

"Lucky guess?" Michael answered her without making eye contract.

Rath, who was nearby, saw Matthew picking the lock of one of the chambers where a switch was held. He was about to move in to intercept, but Michael got in his way.

"Move" Rath commanded him.

"He's with us" Michael told him, as he pointed to Matthew.

"You expect a thief to help just for free?" Rath asked him.

"No. I'm letting him keep whatever valuables he finds" Michael told him.

"I don't think you have the right to make such decision" Rath fired back at him.

"Neither do you."

"…I'll go press the switch then" Rath decided as he rode toward the chamber Matthew had just opened.

As Rath pressed the switch, a whole potion of the castle opened up, the wall lowering into the ground, revealing a new section of the castle. This section had two of the same chambers that had previously been used to reveal this part of the castle. In there besides the chambers was a single treasure chest and a sole enemy soldier.

"Dorcas!" Michael yelled as the wall came down.

"Yeah?" Dorcas asked as he ran over.

"Do you want the first kill?" Michael asked as he pointed to the enemy soldier in the passageway.

Dorcas looked over to the enemy and smiled, "It would be my honor." Without another word, Dorcas ran off into the passageway and begun a deadly dance with the enemy, first throwing his hand axe at him and then drawing his battle axe, meeting the enemy's spear blow for blow.

"Florina! Erk!" Michael shouted as both he and Lyn rejoined the rest of the Legion. "There's one of the assassins from before to the right! Use your magic to catch him off-guard while Florina spears him from the sky!"

With a nod to Michael, Erk chanted his fire spell as Florina jumped onto Huey and flew into the sky. Aiming his spell at a nearby bush, Erk directed his fireball towards the bush, where the assassin rolled out of the way before the fireball could engulf the bush. As the assassin began to stand up, Florina dive bombed the assassin from the sky and impaled his sword arm with her lance. Finishing him off, Erk directed another fireball at him, reducing him to ashes.

As the last assassin from the original trio revealed himself, preparing to charge, knowing that he would not escape without a fight, Michael directed Kent and Sain to cut him off.

"Kent! Sain! Block his path with your spear! Wil, when you've got a shot lined up, let it fire!"

Drawing their spears, Kent and Sain charged at the assassin, cutting off his path, but costing Kent the last of his spear in the process. As Sain held off the assassin while Kent pulled out his sword, Wil took his time lining up his shot. With the two knights sealing the assassin's movements, getting a good line of sight was a small challenge. With a well-timed shot, Wil shot an arrow right in-between the eyes of the assassin, leaving him crumbled on the floor.

"That takes care of the immediate foes…" Michael muttered as everyone reassembled. "Where's Dorcas?"

"He's still in the passageway," Matthew told him, "A word of warning: anyone squeamish shouldn't go over there."

"How bad could it be?" Michael asked him as he walked over to the entrance.

Michael wished he hadn't looked. Covering half the wall was fresh blood, a dark crimson color. On the floor were the remains of the enemy Dorcas had faced. Dorcas was standing over the corpse, his face in a grimace.

"Dorcas!" Michael called out to him, "What happened?! What did you DO?!"

"I tried to ask him a question," Dorcas explained himself, "He wouldn't answer. So I…went a little axe crazy."

"Remind me to NOT be on your bad side…" Michael trailed off as Rath came riding by.

"Wow" Rath said as he saw Dorcas's handiwork.

"So I'm going to go over here and NOT throw up…" Michael aid awkwardly as he walked back to the Legion.

"What should I do next?" Dorcas asked him as Michael left.

"Stay there, there will probably be more enemies for us to deal with."

"And while you're figuring out your next move, I'll be helping myself to whatever is in that room…" Matthew told him nonchalantly. "Oh, and that treasure chest sitting in the open is calling out to me as well…"

Back with the Legion, Michael began to plan their next move. The second switch was behind a locked door outside the castle. There would obviously be enemies guarding the switch. The TRUE problem was getting it opened while Matthew was busy plundering. These doors couldn't be opened by brute force. If it was as simple as that he would just get Dorcas to smash them all open with his axe. Magic kept them intact. The only other way through was if they possessed door keys. However, they were rare and Michael doubted that any of the citizenry had any, if even share them with the group.

"Next move?" Wil asked in anticipation.

"There should be another chamber holding one of the switches up ahead," Michael said, though mostly thinking aloud, "But we would need a door key to get to it. Matthew will be busy for a while unlocking and plundering the passageway."

"You mean a key like this?" Lyn asked as she produced a small silver key from her pouch.

"How did you get that?" Michael asked in wonder.

"By walking into someone's house and talking with them" Lyn told him as she shrugged her shoulders.

"You seem to get a lot of stuff like that…" Michael pointed out as he looked at Wil out of the corner of his eye.

"So then all that's left to do for now is get rid of the enemy guarding the door and we can activate the switch" Lyn told him.

"Already done, Milady" Sain told her as he and Kent rode back.

"Excuse me?" Michael asked.

"Since there was only a single guard," Kent told him, "We thought it would be best to engage him without your consent. We know it was risky, but we wished to speed this along as best we could."

"Just don't make a habit out of it," Michael warned them, "Otherwise I'll be out of a job."

"So let's go open up a switch!" Wil said cheerily as he clapped his hands together.

"Wait!" Michael told him as he put an arm in front of Wil to stop him.

"The tactician has a plan!" Sain announced.

"Florina," Michael said as he faced her, "Could you get Huey ready for a frontal assault?"

"Are you expecting aerial enemies?" Florina asked.

Michael shook his head. "Just get Huey ready to charge on my command."

With a confused nod, Florina mounted Huey and positioned herself by the door to the switch chamber. As the others huddled around the door, Michael gave out his other commands.

"Lyn, I'm going to need you to unlock the door and jump out of the way as fast as you can. Since you're the most agile person here, you'll have the best shot of getting out without being injured."

"Getting injured?" Everyone minus Erk asked in unison.

"If I know enemy placement-and I think I do-there will be an enemy behind this door" Michael told them.

"What makes you so sure?" Erk asked skeptically.

"That's just the kind of luck we seem to have" Michael told him.

"Opening the door now!" Lyn announced loudly as she put the key into the lock and turned the knob until it unlocked.

As if on cue, an enemy emerged from the behind the door and charged at Lyn, his lance at the ready. Since Lyn had been informed of the enemy's presence, Lyn was able to leap to the side and avoid being hit. With his attack missing, the enemy began to withdraw his lance, but a second before Michael shouted out his order,

"Florina, charge him now!"

At his command, Florina charged the enemy through, her attack strengthened by several hundreds of pounds of force from Huey. The entire force of the attack jerked the enemy back all the way to the end of the room, where Florina soon began to shriek in horror as she viewed the results of her attack. In worry, Lyn ran into the chamber and removed Florina from Huey and evacuated her from the chamber, with Huey close behind. Lyn was carrying Florina's bloody lance in her hand.

"What made you scream like that?" Michael asked, now concerned about Florina's wellbeing.

"That poor man is going to be shooting out watermelon seeds through his forehead from now on…" Sain said as his faced contorted in disgust.

"Excuse me while I go throw up!" Wil announced as he disappeared behind a bush, the sounds of him gagging soon following.

Michael took a look himself and aw the enemy dead with a large hole protruding from his forehead right between the eyes. Some grey liquid was running down his face as it mixed with his blood. Michael could see why Florina was scared.

"If I ever make you do this again," Michael told her slowly as he turned around, "Remind me of what happened here today."

"I never knew a Pegasus could put that much force behind a blow…" Kent muttered in awe as he looked on at the scene. "I hope I never have to see it again."

"Seeing as how that man has already activated the switch for us," Lyn said as she pointed to the spot where the enemy had fallen, right atop the switch, "I'd say we should move on to the last one."

With nods of approval form everyone, the Legion made their way back to the entrance of the passageway, where Rath was shooting arrows at an enemy, with Matthew dragging a large sword along the ground as he pulled himself out of the entrance.

"Give me that" Dorcas ordered him as he picked up the blade.

"Where were you toe minutes ago when I needed the muscle?!" Matthew asked.

"Fighting with the enemy, so you could unlock the other chest" Dorcas reminded him.

"Oh, yes," Matthew said as he remembered, "Thanks for that."

"What's happening?" Lyn asked in alarm as the Legion came closer.

"I imagine fighting?" Erk asked sarcastically.

"Shut up, Erk" Serra commanded him.

"I am currently holding the last of the enemy back," Rath grunted as he let loose another arrow, "But I am almost out of arrows."

"How long ago did they appear?" Michael asked.

"Around a moment ago," Rath told him, "The door suddenly opened and they began attacking."

"Sorry about that" Michael apologized.

"If you wish to apologize, begin striking down these vermin!" Rath yelled as he knocked another arrow.

"Erk! Wil! Give him support!" Michael commanded.

At his word, Erk and Wil began their own assault on the enemy with their own fire and arrows respectively. After several seconds of ceasing their attacks, the enemies charged, believing their supplies to be drained. At Michael's signal, the melee units of Lyn, Kent, Sain, and Dorcas met them in combat and defeated them in a few strikes.

"Is that the last of them?" Wil asked, his arrow supply just about out.

As if on signal, the sound of metal clinking on the ground filled the air as a giant of a man suited in full armor from head to toe walked out of the last chamber.

"Oh, they have an armored knight" Michael said calmly at first, a second going by before shouting, "OH SHIT, THEY HAVE AN ARMORED KNIGHT!"

"Why are you panicking?!" Erk yelled at him, "You have a MAGE who can cast FIRE! I can turn him into a living furnace in seconds!"

"Bah," The armored man said, "Lyndis and her cadre. I wondered when you all would arrived here."

As he finished speaking, he swung his lance at everyone who had just brought down the rest of the enemies and swatted them to the other side of the wall, crashing into it.

"Ow" Dorcas said as he leaned on his axe for support. Everyone else was either unconscious or struggling to get up after hitting the wall.

"I'm going to be healing a lot of broken bones" Serra sighed as she waited for a moment to go heal them without being put in the line of enemy fire.

"Florina! Take Serra and don't come down until it's safe!" Michael ordered

"Right!" Florina said as she took Serra upon Huey and took to the sky.

"So, Erk?" Michael asked, "Could you set him on fire now? That would be great."

"Would you him done rare or well-done?" Erk asked as he prepared his spell.

"Charred black, if you'd please" Michael answered him.

"I make no promises" Erk told him as the armored man approached them.

"Say your prayers" The man said as he prepared his lance.

"Not so fast" Dorcas teased the man as he threw his hand axe at him, knocking his lance off course as he brought it down on Erk.

"Annoying axe man…" The armored man grunted as he regained his balance.

"I'd recommend you prepare yourself," Erk warned the armored man as he placed a finger on his armor, "It's about to get hot in here."

At the end of his sentence, the armor the man had on began to start smoking, the temperature increasing rapidly, the armor quickly becoming red.

"Aaahhhh!" The armored man yelled as he swatted Erk away with his hand, his armor still heating up.

As Erk was smack away, he hit his head on the wall and was knocked unconscious, his spell losing its power as his head fell to the ground.

"Crap!" Michael muttered under his breath as he started running out of the man's range of attack.

The armored man stood still for a moment catching his breath as his armor cooled back down. There didn't appear to be visible damage, but Michael could assume the man would need immediate medical attention if he didn't want his armor fused to his body.

"Come back here!" The armored man yelled to Michael as he walked as fast as he could after him.

In response, Rath nocked an arrow and launched it at the man, but it bounced harmlessly off his armor. The armor was too thick to be penetrated by simple means.

Out of the corner of his eye, Michael could see that Matthew had made his way over to the group with Serra, who was currently busy healing everyone's wounds. Matthew seemed to be handing the blade from earlier over to Lyn. Now that Michael looked at it, it seemed familiar.

In a split second, an idea formed in Michael's mind. It would be risky, since he would have to play the role as the bait, but it would be the only way to give Serra enough time to go over to Lyn and heal her. Quickly making his way over to Rath and Wil, Michael whispered his plan to them. With a nod, Wil mounted himself on Rath's horse and they rode off back outside.

"It seems you friends have abandoned you" The armored man told him.

"I only told them to retreat," Michael corrected him, "I don't need their help to beat a Tin Man like you."

"You can be as smart as you like," The armored man told Michael calmly, "But you won't be able to evade me forever."

As he said that, he pulled a spear out of nowhere. With a huge wind, he threw the spear and Michael just barely avoided it, a cut with fresh blood went down Michael's face.

But the armored man didn't just throw the spear and waited, he began his speedy walk towards Michael in earnest. Michael silently cursed t himself as the man pulled out another spear. He was prepared.

"My name is Bool," The armored man told Michael, "Its common curtsey to give your name to the people you're about to kill."

"Don't know why you're the one introducing yourself when you're the one who's going to die" Michael told him. He had lead Bool out into the streets and he had seen Rath and Wil re-enter the passageway. It was only a matter of time.

"I must give you credit for keeping your calm, even against an enemy many times your strength," Bool commented, "You would have made a terrific soldier."

"Strategy is more my forte" Michael told him.

"Tell me," Bool asked him, "Do you have any strategies out?"

"As a matter of fact…" Michael told him as he saw Lyn approaching from behind, the blade from earlier in her hands.

With a sickening crunch as the sound of metal carving through metal filled the air, Bool turned his head around in shock as a sword peaked out of his armor from his back.

"H-h-how…?" Bool asked as he dropped to his knees from blood loss before Lyn drew the blade across his back until he died.

"…I do!" Michael told Bool's corpse with a smile.

"That was a terrifically STUPID plan!" Lyn yelled at him as she removed the blade from Bool's corpse.

"Stupid enough to work" Michael told her with a shrug.

"Does that cut hurt?" Lyn asked, her anger disappearing from her voice as she touched the cut on Michael's cheek.

"Need I remind you everyone else had broken bones?" Michael asked her, "A little cut isn't going to kill me."

"Can't I still worry about my friend being hurt?"

"I'm fine, Lyn" Michael told her in a serious tone.

"An Armorslayer!" Sain's voice said in awe as everyone else from the Legion walked over, "Brilliant! Completely brilliant!"

"I can't believe I'm saying this," Kent said in disbelief as he carried the unconscious Erk and a tired Serra on his horse, "But I agree with Sain!"

"Complete luck that that chest had it in there!" Matthew laughed, "I only noticed it was one when Dorcas here pulled it out of my hands!"

"Guy got in a lucky shot…" Dorcas muttered in anger as he rubbed his shoulder.

"Next time you have a plan like that," Wil spoke up, "Make sure you let someone else be the decoy. We can't have our strategist in the line of fire!"

"But I've already had so much practice!" Michael whined.

"Where's Rath?" Lyn asked, ignoring Michael's comment.

"He activated the other switch and went ahead" Florina told her as Huey trotted on the ground.

"Then let's go meet up with him" Michael said, as he began to walk, his voice turning to steel and his expression turning serous.

The others followed behind him, shocked at his change in demeanor.

In the throne room, Rath was speaking to the marquess.

The marquess was a middle-aged man. His blonde hair, while showing some signs of greying, was slicked back on his scalp, attempting to hide the fact that he was beginning to bald. His eyes were small and back. His nose was a little too big for his build, the same for his gut, but only slightly so. The enjoyments of noble life had treated him well.

As the Legion walked into the room, their whispering stopped as they made eye contact with the group. Michael's blood was beginning to boil.

"Ah!" The marques spoke, "Rath here was informing me of your timely assistance in riding the castle of those vermin. I cannot thank you enough for keeping casualties to a minimum."

"It was no trouble, sir" Kent told him.

"Truth be told, the fault was mine," Lyn spoke up, "Those men were targeting me after all."

"And whom might you be?" The marquess asked.

"This is Lady Lyndis, sir. The heir to Caelin I informed you about" Kent reminded him.

"Now that I look at you, you share a striking resemblance to Madelyn. If I remember correctly, my son was originally one of the suitors for her hand…" The marquess said as he trailed off.

"Sir?" Rath asked, breaking the marquess out of his daydreaming.

"Thank you, Rath" The marquess told him as he got out of his slight daze. "Now, Lyndis, you said something about these men being here for you? I have already been informed of the situation by your knight Kent."

"I'm afraid my granduncle is not a man for conversation or reason" Lyn apologized.

"He'll soon be a dead man if I've anything to say about it!" The marques raged.

"Father! Are you alright?!" a worried voice rang in the room.

Michael had to fight off the urge to run. As much as he had tried to forget, the memories associated with that voice returned to him.

A man, about in his early forties walked into the room, followed by a woman and a young girl.

The man had long and curly hazel hair. His brown eyes flashed regality. He had a small beard and short sideburns. His robes, though of royal make, were black instead of the uniform purple for the aristocracy. He had a lithe figure and a strong build. This man was a practitioner of battle.

The woman behind him had long black hair that ran down to her back. Her eyes were large and were an emerald green. Her figure was petite, but well maintained. Her dress, like her husband's was not the usual purple, but an elegant white.

The girl holding her hand was none other than Uriel. Michael had heard about her before. He was surprised at how much she looked like compared to her parents.

"Camael. Gabriel. Uriel," The marquess named calmly, "I am in a meeting with the heir of Caelin. Can the questions not wait until later?"

"I apologize, Father" The man known as Camael said.

"We were worried for you, Father" The woman known as Gabriel told him.

"Are the bad men gone, Grandfather?" Uriel asked sheepishly.

"They are now, little one" The marquess responded kindly.

The anger only built in Michael's throat.

"Then we shall take our leave for now−" Camael began, but the words died in his throat as he laid eyes on Michael.

"What is wrong, dear?" Gabriel asked before her eyes fell on Michael as well. In a split second, her hand was over her mouth and she briskly walked out of the room, dragging Uriel with her.

"What's gotten you both so worked up?" The marquess asked out of curiosity.

"I-it's nothing, Father" Camael assured his father before bowing and leaving himself.

The anger Michael had felt boiling inside of him since they entered the city burst within him. He felt his legs moving on their own as he emerged from the group and began to walk briskly over to the marquess's throne. Rath moved in front of him to block his path, but Michael only dug his hand in his cloak and produced a locket that he shoved in Rath's face. Rath looked at the locket and then lowered his arm as let Michael through. As Michael walked up, the marquess's gaze turned hard and black.

"You!" The marquess said with venom.

"Yes," Michael agreed with him, "ME."

"Michael?" Lyn asked with concern.

"I thought you left for good" The marquess told him.

"It seems fate has a great love for irony" Michael told the marquess.

"Fate has never been a kind mistress," The marquess agreed, "However, I've changed my mind. I will not be offering support."

"But, Milord!" Kent begged, "We had a compromise!"

"A compromise I still intend to honor!" The marquess assured Kent. "I just need your liege and this brat here to bow and beg for it!"

"Excuse me?!" Michael asked, his mouth forming a snarl.

"I beg your pardon?" Lyn asked, her anger barely in check.

"I never knew you would be so tainted by the blood of the Sacae…I can see it just by looking at you," The marquess sighed, "But I am kind. You'd need only do as I just said and you shall have your aid. Most other nobles would throw you out by now."

Back in the group, Kent was doing his best to restrain Sain, though he himself wished to physically assault the marquess as well. Dorcas flecked his muscles in anger as he looked contemplating at his axe on his side. Wil's smile had been replaced with a stone cold stare of malice. Florina looked as if she were about to charge the marquess with Huey. Erk and Serra were staying out of the discussion, though Erk looked at his book and back to the marquess as if weighing the consequences of what he wanted to do. Matthew just shook his head in disgust.

"You son of a−!" Michael began but was cut off by Lyn.

"Then we shall take our leave" Lyn announced.

Michael stormed out of the throne room without hearing the rest of the conversation. His thoughts were an encroaching darkness in his mind. He looked at the locket in his hand and decided to make his way to the only other place he knew of in this city. On the way out, he met Camael, standing in wait by the door.

"Could I have a moment of your time?" Camael asked cautiously.

"Who am I to say no?" Michael asked in what he hoped was at least a civil tone.

"My wife and I noticed it earlier, but you bear a striking resemblance to our son, Mark. Do you know of him?"

"I did meet a Mark once. Seven years ago" Michael told him.

"How was he?" Camael asked impatiently.

"He's dead."

"What?"

"You heard me" Michael told him coldly as he walked away.

Out in the fresh air, Michael walked down the familiar pathways and alleys as he made his way to a familiar house from his childhood. Looking back at his locket, he clicked it open and produced a small silver key. He held it in his hand for a moment, contemplating if he should do what he was about to.

"Why, Michael! Is that you?" A voice called out, breaking Michael out of his thoughts.

"Oh, Mrs. Smith!" Michael gasped as he turned around and met an elderly lady.

"It's been so long!" Mrs. Smith said, "Seven years, right?"

"Y-yes" Michael answered her.

"Have you come to talk to Jeigan?" Mrs. Smith asked.

Michael nodded.

"In that case I won't keep you. I've kept the house tidy for the last few years, so everything should be as if you only left yesterday. Don't be a stranger now, you hear me?"

"I won't."

"I'll be going then. Have a good day, Michael."

As Michael said farewell to Mrs. Smith, he put the key into the lock of the door and turned the knob.

It was a fairly small house, even back then. But now that Michael had grown, he could scarcely believe he had spent his childhood in this small house. But everything was exactly where he had last left them. Truly as if he had only been gone for the day.

The bookshelf, easily taking up half of the room in the house, still stood across the room, books of all kinds still filling the spaces. The bed he had used for years still sat next to the wall. The desk he had used when he doodled or wrote notes still had papers scattered about and a chair pulled out.

"I'm home…Jeigan" Michael muttered as a tear came to his eye.

Michael walked over to the desk and sat down in the chair. Again, he looked at the locket in his hand. The design on it showed two dragons. Both of them standing vertically, their heads pointing to the top of the locket. One of the dragons was more angelic while the other was more demonic. In the middle in-between the dragons was a broadsword stabbing in the opposite direction of the dragons. The design had been slowly wearing away from so much time in the elements. He had made a promise to never come back here. But here he was, back here. And asking for help from the marques too boot! Fate truly loved irony. But maybe this is was something Michael needed to do. Maybe he could obtain some closure. Or at least, begin to move forward.

Several moments went by as Michael wrestled with the thoughts of what he should do next. He was so engrossed in his own thoughts that he didn't hear the steps of another person entering the house, Michael too overcome by emotion to close it.

"What are you doing here?" Lyn's voice asked as Michael shot up in his seat.

"Lyn!" Michael said in shock, "How did you find me?"

"Florina saw you talking to that old woman before you walked in," Lyn told him, "Why did you run off like that?"

"Sorry," Michael apologized, "I just…needed to get out of there before something happened outside of my control."

"I declined his offer" Lyn told him.

"Good!" Michael shouted, "Did you punch him in his smug face too?"

"No," Lyn said as she shook her head, "But I did make him mad."

"Good enough" Michael sighed as he looked back at the desk.

"Was this your home?" Lyn asked curiously as she placed her hand on the wall.

"As close to one as I could get" Michael told her.

"What do you mean?"

"A man named Jeigan raised me here. He was like a grandfather to me."

"Where is he?"

"Dead. He's been dead for around seven years now."

"Sorry" Lyn said sadly as she lowered her head.

"Why are you apologizing?" Michael asked with a small laugh, "You didn't do anything."

"But I'm sorry all the same."

"Don't be. He's been gone and I've…moved past that. I just came here to say my final goodbyes."

"Then I won't keep you," Lyn said as she began to exit, "Meet us all by the city entrance when you're done."

"Wait!" Michael told her, "I'm almost done. Just wait outside, ok?"

With a nod, Lyn left the house as she closed the door behind her.

Looking back as his hand, Michael pulled out the small silver key. He looked it over once more, as if it was his most treasured possession. Silently, Michael placed the key on the desk and began to back away.

"You're gone now. You told me to not be guilty. You told me to not be mad. To not be angry. To not want revenge. But that's all that's sustained me for so long, Jeigan. I know that if you were alive, you'd be disappointed. You'd scold me and try to set me on the right path. But you're not. I've lived alone and traveled from place to place ignoring and distancing people for seven years. That's not the life you would want me to live. But that's changed! I've met…someone very precious to me. Someone who's shown me human kindness and compassion. She's someone I've found that I've cared more and more for as time's gone by. I…think I may love her. More than life itself, in fact. Because of her, I've even found friends and comrades. So don't worry about me, Jeigan. Rest easy now. I may not be at a point where I can forgive, but maybe…I'll forget instead. If not, I'll just do what I've always done. Bury it all and start anew. Bury everything so deep and tell myself it didn't happen enough times that I'll believe myself. But…I don't think I'll be able to that either. But this time, I've found something I never had before: Family. Goodbye. Now and forever."


	13. Interlude 6: Why Do These Tears Flow?

Interlude 6: Why Do These Tears Flow?

**Author's Notes: **Thanks for the positive feedback on the last chapter guys! I loved writing it, but loved reading the reviews even more!

To Zallow: Yes, Mark and Michael are the same person. Mark is his original name and a reference to the default name of the Tactician at the beginning of the game. His full name is Mark "Michael" Araphen. Michael, along with the names for his father, mother, and sister, are all names of archangels. It's a theme I decided to role with since they're pretty much OCs, I, as the 'God' of this story have created.

The full story will be revealed in the Eliwood and Hector's route. Until then, hope you guys anticipate the story ;D

Oh, and I forgot a little bit of info on the locket that I went back and added in last chapter. I only say this because it might come up again and I don't want people to be confused and ask where that detail came from since it might come out of the blue.

As Michael walked out of Jeigan's house, he felt as if some of the weight that he had been carrying for so long had been lifted. It wasn't gone by any means. It was still there, haunting his shadow, but some of it had left.

Michael walked back through the familiar streets and alleys and walked back to the outskirts where the rest of the Legion was located. Some of the group gave Michael and odd look as he came back. His little scene back with the marquess may have raised some questions in their minds that he was in no hurry to ever answer. But Michael also had his own questions popping into his head as he saw Rath was among the group.

"Did the marquess ask you to spy on us, or something to that effect?" Michael asked him as he walked to the group.

"Michael!" Lyn chastised him. Rath raised a hand to tell her to stop.

"I don't work for racist scum" Rath replied to him.

"Then allow me to welcome you to the legion" Michael greeted Rath as he held out his hand.

"Thank you for allowing me to join…mi−" Rath said to him, but Michael drew in closer and whispered something into his ear.

"Don't tell anyone. Just forget whatever I showed you back in the throne room."

As they relinquished their grip, Rath gave him a nod of understanding. After that the group began to leave, their all being too disgusted with the revelation or recent events to linger any more than necessary.

Back in Araphen Castle, Camael was walking to the training room primarily used by the soldiers. He had some pent up aggression to expel after conversing with the young Michael. He was still the same. The look of coldness in his eyes, the defiant and angry tone of his voice, the way he held himself when talking to either his father or Camael. It was all the same as Mark. A father could not be fooled so easily. Mark was Michael. The memories from all those years ago came flooding back, Camael's own anger getting to him.

As soon as Camael made his way into the room, he grabbed a sword off the wall and began bleed the straw out of the practice dummies that lined the room. With every stab, his anger grew a little more as he remembered another unpleasant memory from before. The face of his father constantly coming to mind. He would never forgive him as long as he lived.

Camael lost track of time while he was annihilating the practice dummies, but by the time he wiped the sweat from his brow, the sky was already beginning to darken. As put his towel down, he heard someone knocking on the door. Assuming it was a soldier too hesitant to just walk in, Camael told whomever it was to come in.

"I won't bite. Feel more than free to come in."

When he turned around to see who was entering, he was surprised to see his wife Gabriel walking in, a serious look on her face.

"Dear," Gabriel began, "That boy from earlier…Was it just my imagination or did he have a striking resemblance to Mark?"

Camael gazed at the floor for a moment, he found it hard to look his wife in the eye, "I…had a discussion with him. He told me…that Mark was dead."

Gabriel' eyes widened in shock as she straightened herself up, the wave of emotion she experienced earlier returning.

"I…see…" Gabriel said to herself as she took a sharp breath.

"But," Camael told her, "I could tell by his demeanor that he was Mark! It's been seven years, but no matter what he says, a father knows his son."

"I see…" Gabriel trailed off as she walked in front of a practice dummy that her husband hadn't dismembered.

In a sudden fit of rage, Gabriel grabbed the dummy with her bare hands and began to rip each of the dummy's limbs off one at a time as she grunted and yelled in animalistic rage. Camael watched with an uneasy gaze. He knew his wife was slow to anger and quick to forgive for even the most serious of wrongs, but the rage she displayed was connected to only one event. The time when the both of them were forbidden from seeing their first born child shortly after Uriel was born.

"I…WILL…KILL…THAT…BASTARD!" Gabriel screamed in rage as she finally tore of the head of the dummy, straw flying everywhere in the air.

"I know," Camael told her, "I know. So do I."

"No you don't," Gabriel told him, "You don't know what it feels like to be separated from the child you carried to term and birthed shortly after the fact! You don't know what it's like to only see him a few times a year only for that right to be stripped from you as well!"

"Yes, I DO" Camael assured his wife as he put his arms firmly on her shoulders.

At his gaze, Gabriel broke down into tears in his arms. They stood there as she wept for what felt like hours, but a sound of their daughter peeking out through the door broke them from their moment.

"Mother?" Uriel asked tentatively, "Father? Why are you crying?"

Gabriel broke away from her husband and began to dry her tears as Uriel walked into the room and gave her Mother a worried hug.

"It's nothing, sweetie" Gabriel assured her daughter as she wiped away the last of her tears.

"Is it about those bad men that attacked us earlier?" Uriel asked s she looked at her Father for an answer.

Camael bent down on his knee as he looked at his daughter, trying to come up with an explanation she could wrap her head around, "It's kind of hard to tell. It's a hard adult feeling for one of your age to understand. Your Mother and I are just being angry that we were so powerless earlier."

"But, Father, you're invincible!" Uriel told Camael.

Camael let out a small but tired laugh, "If only, my dear, if only."

Back at the campsite of Lyndis's Legion, darkness had fallen over the land. Everyone was either sitting around the fire or off in their own tents. However, Michael and Lyn were in a nearby clearing, Lyn instructing Michael on proper swings and from. Michael had made Lyn promise to increase his practices from one hundred wings to five hundred, at least for today. Michael had a boost of energy that he had to let out thanks to his rather emotional day.

"Are you SURE you want to do five hundred today?" Lyn asked in worry.

"Yep," Michael said as he performed an overhead diagonal swing, "May as well do as much as I can while I've got all this energy." He performed another swing.

"Even so," Lyn warned him, "You're body will be incredibly sore tomorrow."

"That's what we have a healer for!" Michael grunted as he performed an underhand diagonal slash.

"Yes, because using magic lets you learn about your body's limits" Lyn replied sarcastically.

"If I didn't know the limits of my body," Michael began as he took another swing, this time changing his grip, "I'd have been killed by Bool."

"If I hadn't been so quick with the Armorslayer, you'd still be dead" Lyn pointed out.

"Which is why I'm learning how to wield a sword from you!" Michael pointed out.

Their practice continued, the discussion turning to mistakes in Michael's form or to how he was progressing. The basics of both overhead, underhand, and backhand diagonal slashes were the bulk of the practice session. Once Michael had gotten the flow of each strike memorized in his body, Lyn ordered him to repeat the simple swings from his previous lesson, making sure to check that they could still be done well after not practicing them for so long. Michael hit the five hundred swings in a matter of an hour and a half, much too soon and with too much energy left to spare for Michael's liking.

"More swings!" Michael ordered, sweat dripping down his face.

"No more for today" Lyn told him, an air of finality in her voice.

"But I've still got energy to burn!" Michael complained.

"Take a walk then," Lyn suggested, "And wash yourself too, you're a mess of sweat."

"Most women like it when men sweat" Michael said in a pseudo-seductive tone.

"I am not most women" Lyn reminded him as she walked back to camp.

"Can't take a joke to save her life…" Michael muttered as he walked over to a pond a little ways away from the campsite.

Cupping his hands in the pond, Michael splashed his face with water several times before slicking his bangs out of his face and rubbing the water out of his eyes. As the ripples in the water receded, Michael took the chance to look at his reflection. The cut from Bool's spear had scabbed, leaving a thin line of black along his right cheek. Serra had wanted to heal it earlier, but Michael stopped her since she had tired herself out healing everyone else's wounds. His hair had grown out much more than he had thought, his hazel locks almost covering the fronts of his ears. His brown eyes still had a hard and steely look to them from today's earlier events. He almost scared himself when he first looked.

Next, Michael looked at his hands. Once they were as thin as twigs and as smooth as could be, the only strenuous activity he had ever done was carrying several books at once. Now what were once thin, were beginning to fill out with muscle, his palms covered in small calluses from doing sword practice without a palm guard.

"Observing the results of your transformation?" Dorcas asked as he approached Michael from behind, Michael jumping a bit in response.

"I think any person would if given the chance" Erk responded as he followed Dorcas, Rath right behind him.

"What are you three doing here?" Michael asked.

"It's been a while since Lyn came back, but you didn't show up," Dorcas told him, "Some of us just thought to go and find you. Just to be sure."

"Translation: Dorcas was worried about you" Erk told Michael.

"I will neither confirm nor deny that claim" Dorcas said calmly.

"Erk was also worried" Rath added.

"I hate you, Rath" Erk quickly shot out.

Michael smiled to himself a little. He didn't realize how much people cared.

"Sain wanted to come as well, but we thought three people was pushing it" Dorcas told him.

"I'll bet" Michael agreed with him, Dorcas appearing to be staring into Michael's soul.

"You're not going to kiss, are you?" Erk asked, "I've seen it when people stare at each other like that and it always leads to kissing."

"You make it very difficult for people to like you when you say stuff like that" Rath told him.

"You can take out the rest of your anger on me" Dorcas spoke up.

"Excuse me?!" Michael asked in shock.

"It doesn't take a genius to know you and that marquess have history," Dorcas told him, "BAD history. Instead of keeping that rage bottled up, take out some of it on me. Don't worry about hitting me too hard, I'm pretty sturdy."

"I'm not angry," Michael assured them, "And I will most definitely NOT hit you!"

"Lyn told us you were awfully energetic earlier," Rath informed him, "The look on Sain's face when she said that was most confusing, though."

"Serra's was priceless though" Erk added.

"You're getting off topic" Dorcas told them. "Just hit me. I won't take no for an answer" Dorcas told Michael.

"Um…okay?" Michael said unsurely.

Dorcas raised his arms from his side as Michael positioned himself a few steps in front of him. Slowly balling his hand into a fist, Michael let out his first punch. He was holding back and not going at a good speed, so his punch didn't even register to Dorcas. Rath and Erk watched in silence.

"Actually try this time" Dorcas taunted.

"You asked for it" Michael warned him as he decided to go full force. After all, Dorcas took a lance to his side and crashed into a wall and was still fighting despite any broken bones.

Every punch after that was as strong as Michael could make it. Michael didn't know how long it went on, but throughout the entire barrage, Dorcas never so much as let out a grunt. But as tit went on, Michael found that the power he was putting into his blows was beginning to disappear.

"Is this the fabled 'Male Bonding' I've heard so much about?" Erk asked Rath in interest as he sat down.

"That's one way of looking at this" Rath admitted as he too sat down.

Michael wasn't even punching Dorcas anymore. His fists were replaced with the bottom of his hands, his breathing sporadic and deep. Eventually, Michael just collapsed onto the ground, his arms still on Dorcas, as he began to bawl.

"Is crying part of the bonding?" Erk asked in concern.

"Not usually" Rath grunted as he jumped back onto his feet and walked over towards the two.

Dorcas bent down to his knees as Michael sobbed into the grass. His eyes were full of tears, his vision distorted so he couldn't see anything properly. Michael didn't know where the tears came from, but they appeared out of nowhere. Maybe this is what Dorcas wanted from the beginning. He had seen something Michael hadn't even felt. Or maybe it was always there, just below the surface, and Michael just couldn't express it. Whatever the reason for it, it didn't change the fact that Michael was now on all fours crying his heart out.

"W-w-why am I…?" Michael began to ask before he was cut off by a gasp for air.

"No need to talk," Dorcas said softly, "Only vent."

Michael shook his head as fresh tears flooded his face, "N-no offense, but why…why am I crying to you guys and not t-to Lyn or Kent or Sain?"

"We are kindred spirits in a way," Rath guessed, "We know what it is like to be isolated and alone. To be on your last legs before someone reaches out a hand to help you. Before they pick you up and brush off the mud and tell you to keep on going."

"We are kindred spirits," Erk added, "Those who are like us, are often the only ones we can show our weakness to. There is nothing wrong with that, it only means that we give comfort in a different form. A form where we do not judge or accuse. We only accept and move on."

"T-thanks, guys…" Michael gasped out as he continued to cry.

Whatever else happened that night was never spoken of again. Michael, Dorcas, Erk and Rath had exchanged a silent oath. Noting would ever be said, only remembered and then forgotten.


	14. Chapter 7A: Sibling Abroad

Chapter 7A: Siblings Abroad

**Author's Notes:** This chapter took a little longer to type than I thought it would! Guess I couldn't get into the initial mood... But hey, after the Lucius joke, the rest kinda followed suit! This is a two-parter since I'm merging the side-quest in as part of the main story. Hope you guys enjoy like always!

"Please!" The boy begged, "Please, help us!"

"You again?!" The innkeeper asked, "Away with you already! Begone!"

"But sir, why?" The boy asked, "You were so kind to us yesterday!"

"If those people are after you, whether your both performers or not, you're nothing but trouble for average folks! Who knows what calamity you'll bring me if I associate with you?! Get out!"

With those final words, the innkeeper took the boy by the scruff of his neck and tossed him outside.

In a corner of the inn, a young member of the clergy witnessed the whole event unfold. With long blonde hair that went past her shoulders and crystal blue eyes. Her blue robes wrinkled as she changed her posture as she became lost in thought. She stared down towards the tome she carried with her that was resting on her bed and knew what she had to do.

"So where are we this time?" Lyn asked as she dismounted Huey, the others already stopped inside the town.

"This is Kathelet" Kent informed her.

Kathelet was a fairly large town, divided into two by the mountain range that marked the north and south ends. The north side was occupied by the townspeople, while the south end was occupied by the castle and its marquess. Aside from just the mountains, the town was riddled with hills and only had one stream of water to supply the people's thirst. It was not the kind of terrain favored by any unit that traversed by land, especially mounted ones.

"It's quiet here" Dorcas noticed.

"Too quiet" Michael agreed, already sensing trouble.

"Must you always assume the worst, Michael?" Sain asked.

"Using my history as a thief as an example," Matthew began as his eyes darted from side to side, "This is generally the part where the dawning realization comes upon the people that they were just robbed and you have about three minutes to make yourself scarce before the pitchfork and torches come out."

"It's not all bad dealing with the local trouble," Serra said matter-of-factly, "After all, the more we do, the better we look in the eyes of the people! And the better we look means the more stuff we get for free! I might even have dashing young men falling for me in droves!"

"Excuse us while we ignore your delusions" Erk told her dryly.

"Aaannnyyyyway," Sain said to redirect the flow of the conversation, "From here we're around ten days from Caelin. If we don't run into detours, that is."

"Ten days…" Lyn repeated.

"Not a lot of time to prepare a strategy for taking on a nation" Michael noticed.

"Y-you're up to the challenge, Michael!" Florina squeaked.

"You've gotten us all this far without casualties," Kent told him, "You'll get s through the final hurtle as well."

"Right behind you" Dorcas told him.

"…Ditto" Rath said.

"Who do you think is responsible for directing us to victory after victory?" Sain asked him rhetorically.

"We'll win; just as we've always done" Lyn assured him.

"You're right!" Michael said, assured by everyone's faith, "I may go through an all-nighter or two to prepare, but I'll definitely come up with a winning strategy. Though I will need any information you and Sain have on the army" Michael said as he turned to Kent.

"I shall inform you to all I know later on" Kent assured him.

As the Legion was engrossed in their discussion, they didn't notice a young boy walking up to them, doubt in every one of his steps.

"E-excuse me, miss?" The young boy asked as he lightly poked Lyn's shoulder.

"Yes?" Lyn asked as she turned around and looked at the boy.

The young boy had wavy bright light blue hair that went down to his neck. He wore a black tunic with yellow embroidering with a pair of dark green shorts underneath. Around his neck was a long yellow scarf that looked as if it was two sizes too big for him and he wore knee high blue boots. In his hand was a small gold flute that whistled with the passing breeze.

"Would you happen to be mercenaries?" The young boy asked cautiously.

"Maybe. Why would you like to know?" Lyn asked.

"I need your help!" The young boy told her.

"Milady," Kent interjected, "We are not in a position where you can readily trust people, even if they are children."

"I'm well aware," Lyn assured him, "The marquess of Araphen nailed that point home for me."

"M-miss?" The young boy asked, his voice cracking.

"Let's at least hear him out before deciding" Michael pointed out as he looked at the boy's demeanor changing.

"Ever the wise counsel," Lyn noted as she turned back to the boy, "Why do you need help?"

"It's Ninian, my sister!" The young boy told the group, "She's been taken by bad people!"

"Sister?" Sain piqued up as he heard the word, "If I remember correctly, the knight's code mentioned that damsels in distress were to always be rescued…"

"That's YOUR version of the knight's code!" Kent reminded him.

"Please help me," The young boy begged, "She's all I have. I'd be all alone without her…"

A twinge of pain went throughout Michael's body as heard the boy spoke. He knew a thing or two about the solitude of loneliness. Some of the others of the group were also affected by the boy's words, but Lyn's word would be the deciding point in whether or not they would help.

"I…" Lyn paused.

"We're helping him" Michael said firmly.

"Didn't see that one coming…" Wil murmured.

"You'd be surprised by what he will actually do" Erk told him in a cryptic response.

"Michael?" Lyn asked as she looked at him in shock.

"Your sister's in trouble, right?" Michael checked with the young boy, "We'll get her back−no matter what."

"Y-you will?" The young boy asked, a few tears of gratitude falling from his eyes.

"Of course!" Michael told him as he looked at Lyn, "We will, won't we?"

"Of course" Lyn told him with a nod.

"With all respect," Kent interjected, "We are on a tight time frame. If the marquess is being disposed of by Lord Lundgren, then time is a precious commodity we can ill afford."

"That is true," Lyn admitted, "But it is not within my character to spurn those in need" She looked at Michael as she said that and he gave her a nod of understanding.

"If that is your wish, then I as your knight shall follow you faithfully" Kent told her.

"Listen to him prattle on like that!" Sain said, "Ever the true knight down to his core."

"What's your name?" Serra asked as she gave the young boy a handkerchief to wipe his face.

"Nils" The young boy told them.

"Now where's the enemy?" Erk asked, "Usually they would appear from their hiding places and attack us by now…"

"Give it a few seconds" Dorcas suggested.

Of course, within the next few seconds, a duo appeared, one clad in armor while the other was dressed in dark robes, the one in armor's face covered by a bandana.

"I thought you were joking…" Rath said as his hand collided with his forehead.

"You get used to it" Michael told him dryly.

"There you are, you little scamp!" One of the duo yelled, his voice giving him away as a man, "Come quietly! Lord Nergal is getting impatient!"

"Nergal…?" Michael asked himself as he made a note to commit that name to memory.

"NEVER!" Nils yelled, "Just give Ninian back and leave us alone!"

"You little brat," The man spoke again, "We may not be able to kill you, but we can sure as hell rough you up in the meantime!"

As he finished speaking, the man lunged at Nils, but Lyn blocked his way before he could make a grab for him.

"Who in the blazes are you?!"

"I'd have to ask that you relinquish the girl you have captive and leave" Lyn told him.

"Huh. So you're going to help the brat? Can't say I feel sorry for ya. You're getting involved in other's affairs and are going to die for it…"

"You don't know who you're messing with, do you?" Michael asked with a laugh.

"If you think we are weak," Lyn warned him, "Then you will be in for a terrible shock!"

"Fine then!" The man shouted, "If it's a bloodbath you wants, a bloodbath you'll get! Come on out boys−"

Before the man could get out the last of his speech, an arrow lodged itself into his head, compliments of Rath's bow.

"He was too noisy for my liking…" Rath muttered.

"Damn," Wil sighed, "I wanted to do that…"

"Less sighing more bandit slaying" Dorcas told him.

"They have a magic user within their ranks" Michael observed from the man in robes that positioned himself out of the group's range.

"Not just any magic user," Erk warned him, "A dark magic user. I'm at a disadvantage against that kind of foe."

"Best tread carefully then" Michael decided.

"Pardon me," A light voice from behind let out, "But I might be able to help you in that particular area."

From one of the nearby buildings stood the very woman that had seen Nils thrown out earlier by the innkeeper.

"Hello, sister!" Sain whistled, his eyes lighting up.

"Are you a bishop of Elimine?" Lyn asked the woman.

"Yes and no" The woman told her, "I'm only a humble acolyte, barely a monk by any standards."

"Wait…" Michael asked, "You're a man?!"

"Yes…" The monk said slowly, "My name is Lucius. Is that a problem?"

"EVERYTHING I KNOW IS A LIE!" Sain cried as covered his eyes in horror.

"S-so…beautiful…" Serra muttered as she drank in Lucius's image.

"No," Michael assured **him**, "Just wanted to clarify (Sain I feel so bad for you right now)."

"Is that knight alright?" Lucius asked as **he **watched Sain's display.

"Don't mind him," Kent assured **him**, "He'll be fine."

"Back to the shaman, if you'd please?" Lyn asked, the shaman beginning to advance.

"Ah, yes!" Lucius remembered, "With my light magic, I should be able to easily remove the dark mage threat."

"Could we have a demonstration?" Michael asked hopefully.

"You certainly may" Lucius told him as **he **jogged off to meet the dark mage in combat.

As Lucius appeared in the dark mage's field of view, he prepared a chant which summoned a circle of darkness that appeared beneath Lucius's feet and shot up at him, attempting to drag Lucius down into the abyss. However, Lucius countered with his own magic, which manifested as spears of light and aimed themselves at the dark mage, breaking his concentration as they stabbed him and made him drop to the ground. As the dark spell dissipated, Lucius chanted his spell one more time and finished off the dark mage before he could regain his balance, thus ending whatever threat he could present to the Legion.

"Wish I could do that…" Erk mumbled.

"Erk? Jealous? I'd never thought I'd see the day!" Serra joked.

"Was that sufficient as proof for my usefulness?" Lucius inquired.

"More than so" Michael assured him.

"Without further ado," Lyn announced, "Let's go get Ninian back!"

With a roar of approval, the Legion moved out to engage the rest of the enemy. As the Legion progressed, an archer came into view, the enemy already preparing his bow for a strike.

"Erk! Light that arrow up!" Michael commanded as Erk chanted a spell at the arrow as it was launched, reducing it to a flying pile of ash before they it hit the ground.

"Wil! Florina! Time for another Pegasus Run!" Michael ordered as Wil hopped onto Huey and the two took to the sky, Wil aiming his arrow carefully as Dorcas and Lyn kept the archer constantly changing his line of sight, throwing off whatever chance of a shot he was presented with. Free of retaliation, Florina took a bold approach and flew Wil in closer to the archer, where Wil let an arrow fly, hitting the archer in the shoulder. In a brief moment, Dorcas was looming over the archer as he bung his axe down, sentencing the archer to death.

Once the archer was dealt with, the Legion had a roadblock to deal with. The path they had was severely thinned out by the vast hills and mountains of the area. If they were to proceed, everyone would have to advance, one at a time, to reach the other part of the town. They would be presenting themselves to enemy attacks they would not be able to easily defend from as they advanced. A necessary risk, but by no means the only way they had to cross.

"Florina," Michael ushered to her as she directed Huey over to him, "Take Lyn and Nils and stay in the sky as we all cross this path. I don't want Nils in harm's way and Lyn is one of our most agile fighters. She won't be able to fight at full capacity if she's being tripped up by the terrain and lack of space to maneuver."

"You can count on me!" Florina said confidently as she hoisted Nils onto Huey, "Bet you've never ridden on a Pegasus before, have you?" Florina asked playfully to Nils as she and Lyn pulled him up.

"N-no, ma'am" Nils told her.

'_Florina's gotten much more comfortable around men since she joined us'_ Michael noted as Florina took the three of them into the sky.

Deciding that Kent, Sain, and Rath would have the most trouble crossing the mountainous terrain, Michael thought they should be the first to cross. However, Michael also noted that they could carry at least one other person, making the trek through go at a much faster pace than if everyone went one or two at a time. Carefully teaming each person up, Michael chose Kent to ride Serra over, leaving them to go through last as to keep Serra safe from any enemy attacks as they progressed through. Sain would be paired with Wil and Lucius, so Wil and Lucius could cover Sain as he directed his horse. While Rath was paired up with Erk, so all their possible long range attacks could be combined to be even more devastating than if either was by themselves or paired with someone else. Making up the rear would be Matthew, the physically weakest of the Legion, with Michael, and then Dorcas as a guard for the both of them. With the order, the groups began to march.

As Rath and Erk made their way through, the enemy made a surprise charge, just as Michael had anticipated they would. Two axe wielders and a sword wielder brandished their weapons as they charged the exit from the pass. Using both arrows and fire, Rath and Erk attempted to keep the enemy at bay. Slowly but surely, they forced the enemy to retreat as they made more powerful strides forward to allow room for the allies behind them to advance and regroup. As soon as Kent had made it though and allowed Serra to dismount, Michael began to direct the Legion or their counterattack.

"Wil! Start firing your arrows in sync with Rath! Aim for their feet! We can limit their mobility is we injure them first! Erk! Lucius! Aim for their upper bodies, their torsos are bigger targets! Sain and Kent! Use the arrows as cover to close the distance so you can finish them off!" Michael commanded.

It took a little more time than first expected, mostly because the enemy was more skilled than the average bandits they had been facing for so long. As they got closer to Caelin, this would most likely become the norm for their encounters. Once the enemies were dealt with, Florina flew back down to the Legion, Lyn holding onto Nils as they disembarked. Nils was shaking violently as Lyn let go of him.

"That reminds me of my first ride," Wil mused as he went down memory lane, "I didn't want to remember that…"

"Hey" Matthew gasped as he pointed a finger towards the large amount of houses near the Legion, "Maybe we can get something out of the locals to help us out!"

"I think they're all hiding right now, Matthew" Lyn pointed out.

"Exactly!" Matthew told her, "They'll help us out, by letting us all take whatever we want!"

"Can you keep your nimble fingers to yourself for five minutes?" Michael asked.

"Only if you pay me!" Matthew reminded him, "And if I'm remembering correctly, you paid me to be a thief. So a thief I shall be!" With that, Matthew ran off to do…whatever he wanted to do, apparently.

"One less person to worry about then…"Michael muttered as he shrugged to Lyn.

"As long as he keeps his hands off our things, I won't complain" Dorcas mentioned.

"Should I give him a sermon later on to reflect on his actions?" Lucius asked.

"Don't waste your breath," Sain told him, "Matthew may rob you blind in retaliation."

"But I've nothing he could want" Lucius mentioned.

"You have the clothes on your back" Sain stated.

"I would love to see his back" Serra sighed.

"Gross" Erk gagged.

"Can we get back to the fight at hand?" Michael asked.

"Are you people always like this?" Nils asked in wonder.

"Count yourself lucky," Erk told him, "We're usually worse."

"The revelation of Sir Lucius being male took most of the wind out of Sain's sails" Kent joked.

"BACK TO THE BATTLE!" Michael yelled, "Seriously, we're kind of fighting for our lives right now. Is this really how we've been acting during every battle?"

With everyone putting their full attention back to the skirmish, Michael observed the paths available for them to follow. There were two paths for their use, both of them begin bridges over the only stream. One path was directly south of the area where Matthew had disappeared into. The other was partially blocked by mountains, making Florina one of the only units here that could traverse it unhindered.

"We should split up," Lyn offered, "Florina can take two people over by this bridge and everyone else can go over the other. The enemy cuts their own forces in two to engage us and we have less work to deal with as a whole."

"Not a bad plan in all honesty," Michael admitted, "But the problem of only three people at max going one way bothers me. What if they don't cut their forces in two? Florina and whoever else she takes with her will be overwhelmed."

"Would you rather we all take one way?" Lyn asked.

"I rather scout ahead first."

"Ready whenever you are!" Florina waved as she prepared Huey.

"You're taking this far easier than you usually do" Lyn noted.

"I've just gotten used to it," Florina explained, "Plus this is Michael we're talking about. I trust him."

"If you compliment me anymore I'll blush" Michael warned as he mounted Huey.

In the air Michael was able to ascertain that one other mage and an axe wielder were in their immediate vicinity. Erk and Florina would be able to make short work of the mage, while Lyn, Sain, or Kent could easily destroy the axe wielder if they all teamed up. Not wanting to risk more time in the air than necessary, Michael ushered Florina to take them back down.

"What's the news?" Dorcas asked, eager to do battle.

"Dorcas?" Michael asked, "How do you feel about being a distraction?"

"Do I have to get hit?" Dorcas asked back.

"Depends on whether or not you can dodge" Michael told him honestly.

"I'm up for it"

"Florina, take Dorcas as a passenger and drop him in front of those mountains. Once you've dropped him off, go back like you were about to come back here, but hide in the mountains. The mage will come to attack Dorcas from afar. When that happens, you'll come out and spear him. Meanwhile, everyone else will be making their way from the other bridge."

With a nod from both parties, Dorcas rather awkwardly mounted Huey and the duo flew off. At that same instant, everyone else began to march for the bridge next to the town.

As the group made their way to the town, Matthew walked out to meet them, having been awaiting their visit for some time. There was nothing he could take except for some pure water that an elder had given him. The water would increase a person's resistance to magic for some time before wearing off. Michael pinched the ridge of his nose in annoyance at the news.

"What? Did I do something wrong?" Matthew asked.

"No," Michael assured him, "Just wished you'd ran back to us sooner when we executed our next strategy."

"Why?"

"We sent Dorcas out as bait for one of the enemy mages" Lyn informed him.

"I recommend we return with Mr. Dorcas and Ms. Florina before it's too late" Lucius interjected.

Everyone nodded in agreement as they began to move out again, attracting the attention of the axe wielder from earlier. With a sign, Lyn, Sain, and Kent engaged the axe wielder in combat and made short work of him.

In a hurry, the group ran over to where Dorcas and Florina were supposed to be. There, they saw an injured Dorcas sitting on the ground clutching his left arm as Florina attempted to give him some of her vulnerary.

"What happened?" Lyn asked.

"Seems pretty obvious to me" Erk pointed out.

"Mage got me with his fire spell" Dorcas grunted.

"I was able to eliminate him, though" Florina assured everyone.

"I'll fix you up in no time!" Serra told Dorcas as she pulled out her staff. With a light tap on his wounded arm, the burns from the spell began to heal as Dorcas flecked his arm to make sure it was at maximum capacity.

"Thank you, Serra" Michael told her.

"Yeah, yeah…" Serra began, "Wait…Was that a 'thank you'? Finally!"

As the group made their way forward, the only enemies that awaited them were three dark mages that were guarding the entrance to the castle. Lucius volunteered to take the spearhead position for the attack as everyone took another front at which to support him.

"Here's how this will work," Michael informed everyone, "Lucius will begin to attack each of the mages. While he does, Wil and Rath will shoot their arrows at the mages in order to cause chaos. While that is happening, everyone else will attack the dark mages as they either attack or evade."

With a nod from everyone as they got into their positions, Michael gave the signal to begin the assault.

All the mages decided to attack Lucius the moment they realized he had light magic. However, that left them vulnerable to the arrows that were aimed for them. Some of the arrows managed to pierce the tomes that the dark mages were using, destroying any threat that the dark mages could present.

As this was going on, Matthew snuck away from the group and made his way towards a house far of towards the south. Michael, seeing Matthew sneaking away, decided to follow him, making sure stay hidden, though Matthew wasn't paying attention to whether or not he was being followed anyway. After allowing Matthew to enter the house, Michael pressed his ear against the door and attempted to listen in on what Mathew was doing.

"Milord!" Matthew gasped in surprise as he walked in, "What brings you here?"

In the house was a young man of large build. He had short blue hair and blue eyes coupled with a look that served to intimidate all but the bravest of persons. He was clad in dark purple battle armor with gold trimming on the edges. Tied to his armor was a red cape that served only as a means to accentuate the outfit as it held no advantage in battle. Underneath his armor was a blue collar that most likely belonged to whatever shirt he was wearing.

His expression didn't change as Matthew entered the room, "Ah, Matthew. Eliwood and I are here for our monthly bout."

"You're still doing that?" Matthew asked, "If only everyone was so lucky as to have a lifelong friend to spar and maim each other with."

"If you don't practice, you get rusty," The young man told Matthew, "Getting rusty leads to death on the battlefield. But, tell me something, Matthew, why are you here?"

"Lord Uther was curious about the whole 'succession crisis' here."

"Oh. That. How IS that situation?"

"Well, from what I've gathered so far, we'd be hedging our bets with Lyndis. Lundgren's ambition and motives are simply too ambitious to simply stop with Caelin."

"That should prove interesting then," The young man cracked his knuckles in anticipation, "How does she do by the way?"

"With our group's ace tactician, we are making short work of whatever enemies that cross our path" Matthew informed him.

"You have a tactician?" The young man asked.

"Of course! In fact, he's right outside this door!"

The only thought that ran through Michael's mind was _'Oh shit!'_ as the door opened as Matthew gave him a smug grin.

"If you're going to spy on people," Matthew advised him, "Don't make it so obvious you're following someone."

"This is the tactician?" The young man asked Matthew.

"Yes, I am," Michael told the young man as he stood up, "My name is Michael."

"Hector" The young man said as he extended his hand. Hesitantly, Michael gave his hand as well and they shook.

"Hector…" Michael began, "Where have I heard that name before?"

"I'm the brother of the current marquess of Ostia" Hector told him.

"Ah," Michael said as he remembered, "The one who came too close to beheading a guard of a visiting noble."

"…Yes…THAT one" Hector conceded.

"I'd hate to cut this conversation short, but the others need us, Matthew"

"That's it?" Matthew asked, "You're not going to ask what I'm doing or why?"

"You're a spy for Ostia and you were looking into the situation of Caelin's succession to see if the country would have to take military action" Michael summarized.

"You never miss a thing, do you?" Matthew asked with a sigh.

"I take it this isn't the first time he's spotted you, Matthew?" Hector asked.

"He found me spying on his group in Araphen. Bought me services there too" Matthew informed him.

"In that case, I shouldn't keep you from your employer," Hector decided, "Though I will have to have a word with my brother about the quality of our spies if they can be caught so easily…"

"If it's any difference," Michael interrupted, "I have a very good pair of eyes."

"I shall keep that in mind," Hector assured as he opened the door, "But let's make one thing clear; you DON'T breathe a word of this conversation to anyone." As Hector told Michel this he leered at him as he moved into Michael's personal space.

"Ok! Ok!" Michael conceded as he tried to back away, "Only one person can get into my personal space and last time I checked you weren't a woman!"

At that Hector let out a hearty laugh, "Ahahahaha! You, I like!"

"Nice to see you, Milord" Matthew bowed as he closed the door behind them.

There was an air of silence that passed between the two before Matthew put an end to it, "So…back to the rampant slaughter of our enemies?"

"…" Michael was silent as he began to walk back.

As the two rejoined the rest of the group, Lyn was just administering the final strike to the enemy leader who was also a dark mage.

"My sister should be in there" Nils yelled as he ran ahead of the Legion into the castle.

"Nils!" Michael shouted, "Wait for us! There may be more enemies!"

The others gave chase as Nils disappeared into the castle interior. "Ninian!" Nils yelled, "Ninian! Where are you?!"

"Nils!" Lyn shouted as everyone ran in, "Is your sister safe?"

"She's not here," Nils told her as he shook his head, "Why? Where else could she be?"

"There as a group of men traveling south just a while ago, if the villagers are to be trusted" Kent added.

"His sister…" Sain said, "They must have her with them!"

"Then let's stop talking and get to chasing them!" Lyn ordered.

"B-but…" Nils began, hopelessness in his voice, "We won't be able to catch them. What if they've already…"

"Would this be the girl you are all looking for?" a new voice asked as a young man appeared carrying an unconscious girl in his arms.

The young man had flaming red hair and large blue eyes. His purple noble's clothing was covered in his blue light battle armor. A cape, much like Hector's was tied to his back, though his was blue instead of red. He looked as if he would rather use words to sway opponents than swords.

The girl that could only be identified as Ninian, was light blue hair much brighter than Nils. She was dressed in a thin light blue dress that went down to her legs and sandals. Her eyes were closed so no one could determine their color except for Nils.

"Ninian!" Nils cried out, "Ninian!"

"She's fine," The young man told Nils, "she's just unconscious."

"Who are you?" Lyn asked the young man.

"I'm Eliwood, of Pherae," The young man introduced himself, "My father is the reining marquess."

"The marquess's son…" Lyn mused.

"She was with a band of ruffians,' Eliwood continued, "She seemed upset. So I decided to separate her from them. They weren't happy, but my steel convinced them to part ways."

"You saved my sister's life" Nils said in awe.

"Where are my manners?" Lyn sked herself, "My name is Lyn. The child here is Nils. And this man over here is my tactician, Michael. I'm the marquess of Caelin's granddaughter."

"Marquess Caelin?" Eliwood asked in curiosity.

It took some time to explain to Eliwood, Michael and Lyn jumping in in equal measure to explain parts of the story that the other missed or wasn't there for.

"That's quite…wow" Eliwood said in astonishment.

"That would be an understatement" Michael agreed.

"But it would still summarize our story" Lyn agreed as well.

"Well, let's just say I believe your story. If you need any help, I'll be in the area for a few days visiting a friend."

"Thank you, Eliwood" Lyn said in shock.

As the three continued to talk, Ninian roused from her sleep, prompting Nils to become overjoyed, "Ninian! You're awake!"

"Nils?" Ninian asked as her amber eyes fluttered, "Is that really you? You're safe!" Ninian dragged her brother into a giant embrace.

"Yep," Nils told her, "These people over her helped me." Lyn and Michael came up to Nils and his sister, attracted by the commotion, Eliwood already taking his leave.

"And who are they?" Ninian asked, slightly taken aback by the amount of people.

"We can introduce everyone else later," Lyn told Ninian, "But I am Lyn. Glad to see you are safe and sound."

"I'm Michael" Michael introduced himself.

"Lady Lyn," Ninian repeated, "And Sir Michael. Thank you for saving my brother and I. Please, call me Ninian. My brother and I are mere traveling performers, but please, allow us to make it up to you."

"Both of you are performers?" Lyn asked.

Ninian nodded, "My brother is the musician and I am the dancer."

"Did someone say dancing?!" Sain asked as he appeared out of nowhere.

"Sain," Michael asked him, "keep it in your pants for now, okay?"

"Oh…sure. I'll just be going now…" Sain mentioned as he awkwardly slinked away.

"My sister's dances are special!" Nils added.

"Special?" Lyn asked.

"'Special' how?" Michael inquired.

"I'd show you…" Ninian began, "But I twisted my ankle when those men captured me."

"I'm sure we can get Serra to heal it later" Michael assured her.

"Besides," Lyn added, "We're just happy to see you both out of harm's way."

"We can help you on your travels!" Nils said, going back on the train of thought his sister had started earlier.

"No offense," Michael said as inoffensively as possible, "But how can dancing and music help us?"

"Our skills can reinvigorate you," Ninian explained, "You can accomplish twice as much with our talents."

"There's also our…other talent" Ninian mentioned.

"What would that be?" Lyn asked, her curiosity gaining the better of her.

"We can sense when danger is near" Ninian told her.

"Sensing danger?" Michael asked skeptically, "How do you do that?"

"No idea!" Nils told him.

"That's the answer I was kind of expecting…" Michael muttered.

"But are you sure you want to travel with us?" Lyn asked again.

"Of course!" Ninian insisted as she began to rise, her gaze falling onto her hand as she got up. "Wait, my ring!"

"Your ring?" Lyn asked.

"Ninis's Grace?" Nils guessed.

"That very one" Ninian told her brother.

"Anything but that one!" Nils cried.

"Is that ring so important?" Michael asked.

"It was a keepsake of our departed mother" Ninian explained.

"And that's where my empathy ends…" Michael muttered.

"Michael!" Lyn yelled.

"It's lost and there's nothing we can do" Nils said sadly.

Lyn dragged Michael over to the other side of the room and whispered, "What do you think?"

"About what?" Michael whispered back.

"About finding their ring!" Lyn reminded him.

"Of course we're going to find it!" Michael said a matter-of-factly, "We are, right?"

"Great minds think alike!" Lyn agreed, "Everyone! Prepare to move out! We're following after those thugs to the south!"

"More bloodshed, how fun" Erk replied dully.

"Perhaps I can show my skills to the lovely Ninian!" Sain mused.

"Maybe I can use my axe this time" Dorcas grunted as he got up.


	15. Chapter 7B: The Black Shadow

Chapter 7B: The Black Shadow

**Author's Notes: **First of all, I just want to say thank you to rotciv557 for taking the time to read and review on all of the chapters he/she has read so far. I almost did a spit take when I checked my reviews and saw I had around twenty. And a other thank you to Shadow of Darkness 78 for the review as well. Glad I'm making you think. =D This is the final part of chapter 7 and for those who would like to know, the only other part in Lyn's story that should be in more than one upload will be the final chapter, where it will be a three (possibly four) parter! Get psyched for that!

In hopes of recovering the keepsake ring of Ninian and Nil's, Lyndis's Legion has been in hot pursuit of the group of kidnappers. As they followed the group towards the southwest, they realized that they were bring led along. Where ever they would end up fighting this group, they would have the advantage. Michael began to prepare counter-attack measures as they came upon the stronghold of the would-be kidnappers. A castle; long abandoned by its ruler and now fortified for the kidnapper's use.

Inside the confines of the castle, men prepared for battle as they secured their positions for sneak and back attacks. While not the most powerful soldiers they had at their disposal, these men would not fall without a fight. In the rear of the maze-like interior, a woman was speaking with the commander of these forces.

"So allow me to summarize the main points," The woman said, "The young brother escaped. He then acquired the help of mercenaries and preceded to cut their way to his sister. The two of the mare now reunited and their group is almost upon you, is that right?"

The woman was dressed in an elegant sleeveless purple gown, her long gloves going up to her shoulders. The front of her dress was slightly revealing, allowing her assets to distract all but the most conscientious or timid of men. Her high heels clicked against the brick as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other. The woman's hair was a dark purple, two long locks hanging down the side of her face. Her eyes were just as deep a color as her hair, but there was a glint of cold, calculating emptiness in them.

"Yes," The commander confirmed, "They ambushed us, and…"

The commander was a fairly large man but for whatever reason, he cowered in face of the woman. He was clad in armor and was ready to battle to the death. His long blonde hair went down to his neck and his eyes perfectly reflected his desperation in his eyes. The hairs of his stubble were on end as he felt the presence of the woman and the Legion descending upon him.

"Hold any excuse you can come up with," The woman commanded as she raised her hand in disgust, "All that matters here is the end result."

"Yes, ma'am" The commander obeyed.

"Now tell me, what is your plan for recovering the siblings?"

"We know that their group is after us, so we plan to spring an ambush."

"Now THAT is the part that confounds me," The woman began, though more to herself than to the commander, "Why would the group risk the capture of their employers by meeting you for a direct assault? Is there some gain to them attacking?"

"It might be this ring here," The commander guessed as he pulled out a ring from his pouch, "It is quite rare. We took it from the girl when she was giving us trouble. It was actually a pure coincidence that we obtained it."

"Then is appears that your men's lucky grab might just save your hide," The woman informed him with a chuckle, "This is your second and last chance to prove yourself, commander. I've more important business to attend to, but I shall return. You are aware of the consequences when I return and you are empty-handed, yes?"

"Yes" The commander answered the woman grimly as he placed the ring back in his pouch.

"For your sake, commander, you'd best put your life on the line to achieve victory," The woman warned him, "Or I shall be administering the Fang's punishment."

With those last words to hang in the air, the woman rode off on her horse, leaving the commander to prepare for the inevitable attack from the Legion and to see things through to the end. His men took their positions within the confines of the rooms and narrow passageways that were either constructed or remodeled to their use. They all knew the gravity of the situation. They all had a burning will to succeed. All that mattered now was both group's wills clashing, the one who's burned hottest would be the victor.

"This is the place" Lyn announced as everyone dismounted from their horses and gathered around.

"Definitely," Michael agreed, "I can feel my hair's standing on end just from being out here."

"If they are giving Michael reason to pause, we must be most careful indeed" Kent added.

"I've got the shivers as well" Sain admitted as he rubbed his arms.

"Allow me to pray for the salvation of any souls that will be lost in the coming battle" Lucius offered as he knelt to the ground in prayer.

"We'll need more than prayers to come out unscathed this time" Dorcas observed as he looked up at the castle.

"They've got mages amongst them," Erk informed everyone, his eyebrows knitted together as his face contorted in distain, "I can sense the magic in the air."

"You're really going to be getting our ring back?" Nils asked in concern as he heard everyone's comments.

"Yes, we will" Lyn assured him.

"Please," Ninian begged, "Don't put your lives in danger for our account."

"We've already done it once," Wil reminded her with a carefree smile, "What's one more time going to do?"

"A lot" Rath answered him.

"Wil is right," Michael said, "Besides, I agreed to take on any and all risks this recovery would present. If any harm is to befall any of us, the responsibility of our Legion falls onto me and me alone."

"If Michael didn't agree to it," Lyn continued, "We would not be here now. It is by his choice that we are here now."

"All this doubt and worry will disappear when you see our tactician in work for yourself, Ninian!" Serra told her.

"If the Boss thinks we can do this," Dorcas spoke up, "By the power invested in my axe, we WILL do this."

"Shouldn't we start preparing?" Florina asked.

Michael nodded, "Yes. Sain and Kent. I want you two to do a quick sweep around the castle to try and find as many of the enemy as possible. Even if you only see one man, it will be a huge assistance."

With a nod from both of the knights, they rode off to inspect the castle from the outside. They would not be able to plan their next move without the information they would provide. Several minutes passed by before the knights returned.

"What did you find?" Michael asked anxiously.

"A lot more than we bargained for" Sain told him.

"Around a dozen soldiers, from what we could gather" Kent quickly added.

"A dozen?" Michael repeated.

"This is their stronghold, after all," Lyn reminded him, "They would be well defended.

"That's not it," Michael told her as he shook his head, "If this is their stronghold, then there should be many more men here to battle us. Something's off here…"

"I'm sure we'll learn more by attacking them than just standing out here" Serra pointed out.

"They may have a means of escape planned out," Rath guessed, "Let's not give them a chance to use it."

"We'll be sure to tread carefully" Dorcas assured Michael.

"I might not be able to fly, but I can still fight!" Florina declared.

"Ha!" Sain laughed, "When did Lady Florina become such a spitfire?"

"Come on, everyone!" Michael rallied, "We've got a memento to recover!"

With everyone giving a silent look of approval, the Legion broke through the doors and into the Cobra's den. As the Legion barged in, Michael could see both sides would prove to be at a disadvantage when the fighting would break out. Two incredibly narrow hallways lead to chambers that would most likely hold most of their adversaries. The walls for the rooms were not tall, but tall enough that no one could climb over them without support. This made for ideal sniping areas the enemy could take advantage of. To the left of the group was a door to another room, being guarded by a single lance wielder. That door might be a way for the Legion to gain a better foothold into the compounds, but the room could just as easily be a dead-end or infested with enemies. In-between the two passages from earlier was another room, but there was no door for that one. The enemy had either abandoned the room or had another means of entering it that the Legion could not use. This would prove to the enemy's benefit. No good options were present.

"When life give you lemons…" Michael muttered as he looked over the abysmal fighting conditions.

"Cut them up and throw them at the enemy's eyes?" Sain guessed.

"Can we not be serious for one battle?" Kent asked.

"Dorcas! Matthew!" Michael commanded, "That lance wielder may be blocking a possible entrance we can use to gain a foothold! I want you two to correct that problem."

All Michael received was a nod from Dorcas as he began to make his way over to engage the lance wielder in combat. Matthew however, was taking a more stealthy approach by going around the other passageway to get behind the enemy.

"I can smell treasure behind that door~!" Matthew sang to himself as he stealthily made his way forward.

"Rath! Wil! Erk!" Michael continued, "Those walls over there may be housing enemy troops. I want you to keep your sights aimed on those walls at all times as we progress through. I don't want any surprises."

"Kent! Sain! I want you two to each take one of the passageways next to this room. We'll need fast units able to cover a lot of ground in a quick amount of time. You two are the best when it comes to that."

With understanding nods from all around, the five each took to their assigned jobs. Rath, Wil, and Erk readied themselves for any attacks on the group from the room the enemies might be stationed in. Sain and Kent each went down their own passageway to scout ahead for any other pitfalls that could befall the group if they all went in one at a time.

Turning his attention back towards Dorcas and Matthew, Michael was shocked to see the lance wielder putting up a decent fight against Dorcas, holding him off as he dodged each of Dorcas's blows. Though that was a fleeting situation as Matthew snuck up behind the lance wielder and introduced his dagger to the man's throat, a scream being let loose as the air escaped his lungs.

"Looks as I our vanguard lick it" The commander said as he motioned over to troops he had in reserve, "Reinforcements! All of you come out! We're to not give them any quarter!"

The reinforcements, made of four dark mages, two sword wielders, and a single thief ran up the stairs from one of the underground passageways and began to fan out through the compound.

While the others made their way for the direct entrance that they assumed the enemy would be taking, the thief made way for the sole chest they had protected that contained a hammer. The hammer would prove a huge loss to the Fang if they were to lose it to enemy hands.

"Matthew!" Michael cried from afar, knowing the enemy may be listening in on the Legion, "How's that lock coming?"

"Coming undone just like Dorcas's belt after a good meal!" Matthew told him.

"I don't own a belt" Dorcas informed him.

Matthew stopped fiddling with the lock as he looked at Dorcas, "Too much information."

"Sain's back!" Lyn told Michael as she tapped him on the shoulder.

"The right passageway is clear!" Sain informed them as he made his way back.

"Where's Kent?" Lucius inquired.

"Think it's safe to say he got into a tussle with the local enemy" Erk responded, his attention not diverting from the wall.

"Lucius!" Michael ordered, "Go down the path Kent took and give him some support if he needs help."

"With all due speed!" Lucius told him as he rushed over to Kent's aid.

Over on Kent's side of the passage, he was engaged in a bitter duel with an axe wielder. The narrow passageway proved difficult to fight in, especially when on a mount. Kent found it difficult for him to find the necessary room to land a decisive blow on his enemy. However, the same held true for his opponent. There was no room for flashy moves or daring jumps, only attacking and defending.

"For the sake of my liege, you must taste defeat!" Kent roared as he continued the fray.

However, before either of the two could reengage their struggle, spears of light surrounded the axe wielder and launched themselves at him. Unable to defend against the non-corporal weapons, the axe wielder quickly found himself at the disadvantage. Not allowing his surprise to overcome him, Kent gave the final blow with a vertical swing down on the rouge's head.

"Sir Lucius?!" Kent asked once their adversary was dealt with.

"Michael saw it fit for me to assist you once Sain returned and you didn't" Lucius informed him.

"My thanks to the both of you, then" Kent bowed as he began to make his way back with Lucius.

As the duo made their way back to the rest of the group, Matthew finally heard the sounds of the lock undoing. Quickly opening the door so he could begin his plunder, Matthew was greeted by an archer standing at the ready and a thief on the enemy's side procuring the contents of the chest that had been calling out to him from the beginning.

"Down!" Dorcas yelled as he grabbed Matthew's shoulder and pushed him to the ground as the arrow aimed at Matthew's head found its home in Dorcas's left shoulder instead. In response, Dorcas threw his own hand axe and gutted the archer from their current position. The thief ran off as soon as the battle began to rage.

"You okay?" Dorcas asked s the both of them got up.

"No, I am NOT!" Matthew yelled, "Thanks for taking the arrow for me, but that guy stole the stuff I was going to steal! He better be on the lookout, because I'm going after him! I will not be denied my plunder!"

At that same moment, Matthew began to run after the enemy thief, blending into the shadows before Dorcas could grunt in disapproval.

"He's fast" Dorcas noted as he began to run back to the Legion, in need of medical aid. On the way, Dorcas met Kent and Lucius as they came back from the passageway.

"Sir Dorcas!" Kent said in alarm, "You're injured!"

"Huh, didn't even notice" Dorcas replied sarcastically.

"What happened?" Michael inquired as the three came back, Serra immediately coming to Dorcas's side to administer aid.

"I ran into an enemy guarding the western passageway," Kent reported, "Sir Lucius helped stem the tide in my favor. I thank you for sending him, by the way."

"Matthew and I took met resistance after he opened the door," Dorcas began, "Archer got me in the shoulder, but I got him in the chest. A thief ran off with some treasure and Matthew went after him."

"Matthew can handle himself," Michael decided quickly, "What we need to worry about now is how to proceed. We could have enemy clusters for either ends…or from this room."

"Which reminds me!" Sain spoke up, "There are large cracks in the wall from the side I scouted. Perhaps we could crush them down and attack them from there?"

"But how will we break the wall?" Lyn asked him, "Last time we did that it took far too long. And Kent's lance."

"The walls are low here," Florina reminded everyone, "I could do a Pegasus run and drop some people into the room."

"There may be archers" Michael told her as he shook his head.

"If I could make a suggestion…" Erk began as he withdrew his attention from the wall.

That was a mistake. As if he had been lying in wait for just this opportunity, an archer jumped up above the wall and let loose and arrow aimed for Erk, but Wil pushed him out of the way,

"Look out!" Wil yelled as he took the arrow meant for Erk right into his back shoulder.

Without allowing for a moment of hesitation, Rath shot the archer with his own arrow, crippling him as his arrow pierced though one of his hands.

"GET DOWN AND HUG THE WALL!" Michael directed as enemy dark mages just as quickly jumped up to attack.

In a panic, everyone began to either hug the wall as Michael instructed, or carry off the injured or defenseless. As soon as Lucius positioned himself, he began to attack back in defiance at the dark mages, managing to land a crippling blow on one of them before he could duck back behind the safety of the wall. Rath was using all of his skills in horseback riding to keep himself out of enemy fire while trying to strike at the same time. His horse danced with grace only found in those tamed from the wild. His shots failed to kill any enemies, but one tome or two found themselves destroyed by a lucky arrow.

"Retreat!" Michael began to command, "Retr−" But he cut himself off mid-sentence as he looked up and saw a dark mage looming over him, a spell about to be fired at him.

"Look out!" Florina called out to him as she tackled him out of the way as the mage let his spell loose, injuring Florina's leg instead of its intended target.

"Florina!" Lyn yelled in concern as she drew the Manti Katti and used it to surprisingly repel the attack from one of the dark mages, cutting the spell in two.

"Fall back to the entrance!" Michael commanded as he carried an injured Florina in his arms.

As soon as the enemy retreated behind their own fortress, did the Legion retreat back to where they had entered the stronghold.

"I'll get you all up and fighting fit again in now time!" Serra told everyone reassuringly as she began what would be a lengthy and draining healing process.

As soon as Serra said that, an axe and three sword wielders emerged from the door Matthew had opened earlier and began to run over to the now injured group.

"Not one but two!?" Michael yelled.

"We'll head them off!" Lyn told him as Dorcas, Sain and Kent went over to meet them in combat.

However, from behind the enemies, Matthew reappeared from the shadows and silently slit the throat of one of the sword wielders, alerting the others to his presence and shocking Lyn's division.

"Oh, was that his throat? That WAS his throat" Matthew pretended to act concerned as he let the giant hammer he carried in his hand to drop to the ground with a thud.

With a quick look to each other, the remaining sword wielders and the axe wielder both began to run after Matthew, who danced away on his toes as the others, now over their shock, re-began their pursuit.

"Let's see if you big fella's can catch me!" Matthew instigated.

With Matthew's almost inhuman level of agility, he was able to evade every attempt at an attack his way while staying as close to the enemies as possible, giving the others enough time to flank them and get in a quick and decisive strike each.

"How were you doing that?" Lyn asked Matthew in awe.

"You learn a lot by being a thief!" Matthew told her.

"The hammer?" Dorcas asked as he picked the huge hammer off the ground with a single hand.

"It was in the chest that little rat-bastard thief stole before I could steal" Matthew told him, "I got it back."

"That can solve our little wall problem" Sain mused.

"And our dark mage problem" Kent agreed.

"Did I miss something while I was gone?" Matthew asked, now interested.

"We were ambushed by enemies over by the far wall" Lyn informed him.

"In that case, Dorcas can take the hammer!" Matthew decided.

"Watch out world; here comes Dorcas the Wall Crusher!" Dorcas announced with a small smile on his face.

"Sir Dorcas smiled," Sain said in awe, "The enemy has no idea what they are in for."

"Let's report back to Sir Michael!" Kent said as he began to run back to the rest of the Legion.

Meanwhile, Serra was having her hands full healing everyone that had injuries. No one was able to escape unscathed except for Michael, and only because of Florina's timely intervention. Florina's legs had both been corrupted by dark magic, which would take some time for it to disparate, even with the assistance of healing magic. She wouldn't be able to assist for the rest of the battle. Erk had taken a nasty blow to the head when Wil took the arrow meant for Erk. Wil's right shoulder blade was shattered by the arrow and was still mending. Rath and Lucius had been lucky to escape with only scratches. Lucius's magic training had him resistant to much of the enemy's magical attacks, while Rath had been able to avoid most of the attacks thanks to his horse. As Serra finished treating the last few cuts, she slumped over in exhaustion, Lucius catching her before she hit the ground.

"There we go" Lucius said as he caught her.

"Thanks…" Serra said weakly.

Michael viewed the result of their initial attack in revulsion. His lack of planning and predicting had almost gotten his comrades killed. "I'm so sorry" Michael said to no one in particular.

"Why are you apologizing?" Wil asked as he grimaced from the pain in his shoulder.

"You all got injured because I couldn't plan ahead," Michael explained, "This wouldn't have been so bad if I took more time to prepare."

"If I could interject," Erk groaned as he regained consciousness, "There was no way we would have been able to avoid a confrontation like that. Better we do it now, and deal damage to the enemy now, then when we are going through with a major tactical move. Which I assume you are devising as we speak?"

"I honestly have no ideas!" Michael said in exasperation, "As long as they stay in those rooms, we'll never be able to properly attack them."

"We're back!" Lyn announced as the five of them returned.

"Wow!" Matthew said with a grimace, "What did I miss?!"

"An ambush" Rath informed him.

"Ah. But nothing we can't bounce back from, right Michael?" Matthew asked.

"I…don't know" Michael said, still in self-pity.

"Michael?" Lyn asked in concern as she rushed over to him, "You're not yourself. What's wrong?"

"He's doubting himself because of the enemy ambush" Florina told her from her place on the floor.

"Florina!" Lyn yelled as her attention turned to her, "What happened?!"

"Miss Florina took a dark spell aimed at Michael" Lucius told her.

"That was very brave" Rath added.

"And stupid!" Michael also added, "I should've prepared us better for an ambush. It's my fault people almost died."

Dorcas sighed to himself in disgust as he walked over to Michael and picked him up by his collar, "Look, Boss, what do you need to be doing right now? Wallowing in self-pity? **Or directing us to victory ****like you promised****?" **

At Dorcas's words, the fire in Michael's eyes returned, blazing almost in defiance to Dorcas's proclamation.

"Get ready to make our enemies taste defeat!" Michael announced with a grin.

"THAT'S more like it" Dorcas said with a smile as he let Michael down.

"I hope you masochists are ready for some punishment!" Michael yelled, "Because I'm about to bring the pain with our winning next winning strategy!"

Michael's announcement was greeted with cheers from everyone.

"Matthew," Michael began, "I trust that you found some treasure during your little escapade with Dorcas?"

"As a matter of fact," Matthew told him, "I did! Had to steal it from a thief who stole it first, but yeah. Dorcas has it."

"That's Dorcas the Wall Crusher!" Dorcas corrected him.

"'Wall Crusher'?" Michael asked.

Dorcas showed Michael the hammer. Michael's eyes light up as the gears in his mind began to turn at maximum speed.

"I think I have the perfect solution to our wall problem…" Michael mused.

"Our sentiments exactly" Kent agreed with him, enjoying the look on the tactician's face.

"Here's the plan," Michael began to direct, "Seeing as how Serra is going to be resting for a while, it's imperative that we execute this plan as perfectly as possible to avoid injuries. First, we will divide into two groups. The first group will be the distraction units while the other group carries on with their objective of destroying the wall. The second group will be led by Dorcas as they destroy the wall and attack every enemy while they're caught off-guard."

"Who's the distraction group?" Wil asked.

"I'm glad you asked," Michael pointed at Wil, "Of course it will be Florina and I."

"What?!" Florina asked in shock.

"But she's injured!" Serra complained, her voice shrieking out of habit, "I WILL NOT let injured parties go into battle!"

"It's a good thing we're not battling then" Michael agreed.

"Then what are you going to do?" Lyn asked, wanting to hear the rest of Michael's thought process.

"Simple, really. The both of us will be attracting enemy fire while the other group sneaks past to the other side without as much resistance. While Florina is controlling Huey's reins, I'll be telling Huey when to stop with my kicks. It's going to simply be running forward and running backward."

"But how will you avoid the mages?" Erk asked.

"You can't hit what you can't catch. We'll be going too fast for them to follow."

"But what if they have really good aim?" Wil asked as he massaged his shoulder.

"That's where Kent and Sain come in. Or more specifically, their armor."

"What?" Kent and Sain asked in unison.

"Your armor, more specifically, your shoulder guards will be used as our shields as we do our distraction run."

"How will these small things help you out?" Sain asked as he removed his shoulder guards.

"Well, Florina will be wearing one of them across her chest so no arrows can easily pierce her heart," Michael began to explain, "With the other two, I'll be using them as a shield from any stray arrows that come our way."

"They have more archers?" Kent asked in surprise.

"I have my suspicions" Michael told him, "Though whether nor not we go through with this plan is entirely up to Florina."

"I…" Florina began, "Let's do it" Florina's eyes burned with determination. Huey neighed in approval.

"Let's get you suited up then!" Michael told her with a smile as he handed Lyn the guards.

In a few short moments, both Florina and Michael were prepared for their part in the plan. Florina's makeshift chest guard protected most of her chest and all of the area where he heart was while Michael wore the last two pieces of guard like a shield around his right arm. As they mounted Huey, Florina gave him some quick direction for how to direct the Pegasus on when to stop or when to speed up or slow down. With those tips in mind, the two were off as the others ran off towards the eastern passageway.

Almost upon riding along the side, the enemy immediately jumped up for their positions to attack the two. The dark mages couldn't aim their spells at them correctly, but the three archers that suddenly appeared toward the end of the room had more time to prepare their shots. With a swift kick, Michael ordered Huey to run faster, Florina handling the reigns so they wouldn't run into the wall when they had to turn. As the archers aimed their arrows for Florina's head, Michael put his shield covered arm in the way to intercept their attacks. Michael barely got the first arrows blocked in time because of how he had to position himself while they were moving so fast.

As the two got to the end of the hallway, Michael kicked Huey again to stop her from colliding with the wall, while Florina quickly steered her to turn around before the archers could take aim their next shots while they weren't mobile. With another kick, they were back to the way they came, this time the dark mages had learned to aim for where they would be going, but Huey, being a creature resistant to magical attacks, was able to shake them off with little or no effect. The archers, letting their arrows all fly at once, gave Michael some trouble as he couldn't block them all, but he had to at least protect Florina. In a mad attempt to block all the arrows, Michael used his own body as another shield, his makeshift shield on his arm blocking any fatal hits, but an arrow or two lodged themselves into Michael's calves.

By the time the two had made their way back to where they began, the sound of a wall collapsing echoed throughout the castle, as the sound of swords, fire, screams, and arrows soon followed suit with the wall.

"They did it…!" Florina sighed in relief as she collapsed onto Huey.

"We only had to do it twice!" Michael said in awe, "Thank Elimine for that!"

With victory within their grasp, Michael ushered Florina to take them back to Serra so they could all await the rest of the Legion's return. Wearily, Florina directed Huey back to the castle entrance. A few more seconds after they returned, the rest of the Legion made their return as well. They all had slight cuts and were a little haggard, but they all seemed to be fine in spite of that.

"It was a complete victory on our part" Lyn informed Michael with a smile as they made their return.

"Let it be known that no man can outdo Dorcas the Wall Crusher!" Dorcas announced with pride as he rested his new hammer on his shoulders.

"And let it be known that the red and green knights cannot be stopped!" Sain yelled as well, hopping aboard the bandwagon.

"You all were brilliant!" Michael agreed.

"But Michael!" Serra yelled, "You're injured!"

"Those arrows look like they hurt" Wil said as he winced from the thought.

"Better me than Florina!" Michael told him.

"Come here," Lyn ushered as she walked over, "Let me help you take those out. Serra, can you heal him?"

"Don't bother Serra!" Michael told her, "A vulnerary can do the job just as well."

"Hold still" Lyn ordered Michael as she pulled out the two of the arrows in a single pull.

"Wow! That SMARTS!" Michael complained as he instantly grabbed the area of his legs erupting in pain.

"And here's a vulnerary" Lyn offered him as she pulled the pouch containing them from the inside of his cloak.

"Give some to everyone else while you have it out" Michael told her as he took a drink.

With a nod, Lyn went and passed out a few vulnerary. In a matter of seconds, everyone was back to their fighting fittest.

"That should be the last of the enemies" Kent observed as he looked over the corner of the passageway as he reapplied his shoulder guards.

"Good riddance!" Sain muttered bitterly.

"All that's left should be the commander" Rath stated.

"Let's go and see if he'll listen to reason" Lyn said as she began to lead everyone to the final room in the castle. As they all made their way into the final room, the leader of the kidnappers looked onto the group, his eyes barely giving away the feeling of defeat that they all knew he was experiencing.

"You men have been defeated," Michael told the commander, "It's useless to fight back."

"Rrrngh" The commander growled.

"If you give us the ring and promise to never bother Ninian and Nils again, we'll let you live" Lyn offered him.

"Failure….means death…" The commander said to himself and he slipped something from his hand into his mouth. Shivering as the contents went into his body, the commander shacked violently before collapsing onto the floor in a dead heap.

"What?!" Lyn gasped as she saw the event unfold.

"That's…just not right" Michael said, almost at a loss for words.

"These weren't common thugs we were dealing with," Kent announced, "They were all trained professionals.

"Let's search the man's corpse for Lady Ninian's ring and be done with this place" Sain said as he looked at the castle walls in distain.

"I've had about my fill of this place for my lifetime as well" Michael agreed.

"I'll get the ring" Dorcas volunteered as he bent down on the commander's limp body.


	16. Interlude 7: Preparing for the Finale!

Interlude 7: Preparing for the Final Battle

**Author's Notes: **OK, first off, Rotciv557, good for you for catching up so fast! Now you won't have to stay up so late reading.

As for Shadow of Darkness 78, I was reading your review (and warning) just as I was playing that chapter as a warm up for the next chapter. All I can saw is so far the only ways I've come up with to deal with that are stupid. Oh well.

But still, 2700 words! I think that's a new high for the interludes!(?) I'm getting excited for the ending of Lyn's story. I WANNA WRITE THE FINALE NOW BUT I WANT TO GET EVERYTHING ELSE DONE FIRST! Enjoy =D

* * *

"You found my ring!" Ninian cried in joy as Lyn handed her back her ring, Ninian hugging her ring to her cheek.

"If you had told me a year ago that we would be fighting thugs over a simply ring, I'd laugh in your face" Sain mentioned to Ninian's joy.

"Especially when the thugs were well trained" Kent added.

"Those weren't just some common thugs," Michael reminded them, "There were far too many men that were trained far too well to be anything less than part of a large organized group."

"The way you say that makes me think you have some ideas" Lyn told him.

"Sorry, but I'm clueless" Michael apologized, "Unless you two have an idea?" Michael asked as he looked to Ninian and Nils.

The sibling gave each other a cautious look before meeting Michael's gaze, "N-no…" Nils replied.

"If we knew, we would tell you" Ninian responded.

"Oh well," Lyn sighed, "No use thinking over things we can't find out."

"Right…" Michael agreed off-handily as he continued to look at the siblings. He knew that they knew that he knew that knew who their pursuers were. But Michael knew that secrets were best left secret unless they wanted to be shared. Willingly.

"I've had enough for one day, myself!" Wil huffed.

"I second that…" Erk muttered as he rubbed his head, "Thanks for the save by the way."

"Alright everyone, it's time to leave this castle behind!" Lyn announced, "Let's make sure we make tonight's camp as far away from here as possible."

With mutters and moans of agreement all around, the Legion, with siblings Ninian and Nils in tow, marched off towards the open fields. After marching until the sun began to set, they made their camp within a clearing in the forest. As they all sat around their campfires as the sun set, everyone was performing maintenance on their weapons, the final battle looming ever closer. However, Serra was most shocked when she inspected her staff.

"Oh poopie!" Serra pouted, "My staff is beginning to crack!"

"Excuse me?" Erk asked in disbelief as he realized the wording Serra had used.

"I'm sure a crack or two is no big deal" Michael told him.

"A non-healer wouldn't get it," Serra huffed as she waved Michael's comment away, "A staff is like any weapon-they break after continual use. Mine getting cracks just tells me that this thing doesn't have much more fight left in in."

"And with our Legion coming ever closer to Caelin by the day, this will become a large problem" Michael reasoned, seeing where things could quickly go sour for the group.

"Very bad, considering our penchant for getting into trouble" Dorcas noted.

"We'll just not have to put ourselves in such harm's way" Rath pointed out.

"Easy for an archer on a horse to say" Sain countered.

"That's why we have so many vulnerary in stock," Lyn reminded everyone, "When the time comes when Serra's staff breaks, we'll just fall back onto them."

"Are there any places we can buy staves?" Michael inquired.

"None that I know of in Caelin" Serra told him.

"We don't have many healers in our land," Kent mentioned, "We rely mostly on vulnerary and the odd elixir when we need one."

"Out of one fire into the next" Dorcas sighed.

"I'm sorry" Ninian spoke up, "If it weren't for all your trouble to get back my ring, this wouldn't have happened."

"Don't apologize," Lyn told softly, "We helped you knowing it would be detrimental to us."

"Besides," Michael said as he looked at Nils, "Birds of a feather flock together!"

"Birds of a feather…?" Nils asked.

Michael motioned for him to come closer as he whispered, "I was in a position similar to you are now: No one in the world aside from that one person who makes life worth living. You want to stay by her side all the time."

"Really?!" Nils asked amazement from Michael's revelation.

Michael gave him a smile and a nod as he looked over to the entire Legion, "But that's changed for you now too. As long as you two are with us, you are family. We all are."

"That's…very kind of you" Ninian said breathlessly.

"That's not being kind," Lyn corrected her, "That's the truth."

Ninian and Nils began to cry lightly as feelings of gratitude overwhelmed them. Several members of the Legion piled around them and consoled them until they regained control of themselves.

"S-sorry…" Ninian sniffled as she wiped away some of her tears.

"Don't be," Florina told her, "Everyone has to have a good cry now and again."

"Y-you're the first people to be so nice to us after people find out we're being chased!" Nils cried.

"How long have the two of you been chased?" Wil asked.

"A looong time!" Nils told them.

"I know the pain of those stinging looks of distain," Rath muttered through grit teeth, "I do not wish that pain on anyone."

"It's tough enough to not be able to know compassion," Dorcas said, "Others cursing your life is even worse."

On that note the night drew ever closer, and Michael asked Lyn to take a walk with him away from the group. There were some things that they needed to discuss that were of great import. As they walked over to a small clearing near the campsite, Lyn took a seat on the cool grass and Michael followed suit.

"So what did you call me out for to discuss away from everyone else?" Lyn inquired.

"I have two things to inform you about," Michael told her, "The first is that I…managed to procure some information regarding assistance from other territories. Ostia in particular."

"Really?!" Lyn asked in shock, "That's amazing!"

"Let me finish before you start to celebrate," Michael told Lyn as he gave her a serious look, "Even though we could have their aid, don't expect it to arrive in time for our confrontation with Lundgren. Twelve days is simply too short a time frame for word to travel to Ostia so they can prepare their army to intervene. We'd be forced into playing cat and mouse for at least one more month. We don't have that kind of time."

"I see…" Lyn muttered as she closed her eyes in thought, "The other news?"

"Oh, no news!" Michael assured her, "I just thought it was time we started my practical sparring."

"…That's it?" Lyn asked.

"Yeah, why?" Michael asked her back.

It's…nothing," Lyn sighed as she shook her head in slight disappointment, "But anyway, it's a little too soon for sparring" She told him gently.

"Trust me; you and I both know that I am not up to snuff to hold my own in battle. But with everything coming to a conclusion in under two weeks, I think it's time we speed things up and prepare as much as possible. That includes me gaining some combat experience."

"There's another reason isn't there?" Lyn asked as she leaned in closer.

"Yeah," Michael admitted, "With all the hell that went loose with those kidnappers…I just felt so useless. I know I shouldn't feel that way, being the tactician and all, but I want to protect everyone. You're all my family."

"Wouldn't you be breaking our promise then?" Lyn asked.

"Hm?" Michael asked back.

"Remember? You would be my peerless tactician. And I, your unbeatable warrior. We promised it the day we left the Sacae Plains. I've done my best to live up to my side of the promise. And you've proven yourself as a master on more than one occasion. To be honest, I feel inadequate comparing my deeds to yours."

"But that's the thing!" Michael yelled as he stood up, "No matter how amazing or full-proof my strategies are, YOU are all the ones who put your lives on the line to bring my strategies to their end result. Thinking up what others can do is easy, but actually going through with each order? That's where the true effort comes from! THAT'S why I want to fight! So I can do my own part!"

"You're truly adamant about this," Lyn noted by the sound in his voice. For a moment, Lyn closed her eyes as she steeled herself, "Very Well! Grab a sword and get ready, because I won't go easy on you! I'll beat every move and mistake into your body!"

"That's the Lyn I like to see!" Michael cheered, "The one that gives everything her all!"

As Michael picked up the iron sword that he had used so often in practice and assume his stance, Lyn drew the Manti Katti, giving Michael a good surprise. Lyn really did mean to not hold back against him at all.

As Lyn took her own stance, her usual holding back of the blade with both arms as she crouched down to make herself less of a target, Michael nervously took a step back. Any wrong moves could easily end with a sword in his gut. While being both slow and fast, Lyn began to disappear as she had often done to her enemies when they had first set out on their journey. From experience at watching her fights, Michael immediately raised his sword to his left as he sidestepped to the right, the sound of blade meeting blade ringing in the woods as he saw Lyn's look of shock at his sudden block.

"You…blocked it…!" Lyn gasped in amazement.

"I've seen you do that move for so long it's second knowledge to me" Michael told her.

Lyn let out a small laugh, "In that case, I'll use some of my other tricks!"

Putting all of her weight down on her sword, Lyn forced Michael onto his knee as he was pressed against the ground. In retaliation, Michael began to push up in order to gain some sort of ground, but a swift kick to his stomach launched Michael onto the ground as the pain stole his breath. Giving him no time to catch his breath, Lyn dived upon him, an aerial strike aimed at his sword arm. Quickly, Michael rolled to his side to avoid the blow, his sleeve being caught as he was too slow.

"Good job evading!" Lyn complimented him as she seamlessly flowed to her next horizontal slash.

"Thanks…!" Michael grunted as he ducked to avoid the attack. Using the chance as Lyn withdrew her sword back to her side, Michael aimed the blunt end of the sword at Lyn's stomach, but she caught it with her hand and pulled on the blade, tearing it from Michael's hand as she just as quickly placed both of the blades around his throat.

"And so the tactician falls" Lyn announced as Michael fell to the ground in defeat.

"Wow," Michael gasped as he recovered his breath, "You didn't waste any time. If I didn't know better, I'd say you always went easy on our foes."

"Practice makes perfect," Lyn told him, "Now stand up. We're going until you collapse."

"I think I already did…!" Michael gasped as he picked up his blade and reaffirmed his stance.

"Then you're too weak to be of any use on the battlefield!" Lyn lectured as she charged at him in a frontal assault. Their blades met in constant retaliation. Whenever Michael made a mistake in his form or let a hole in his defense, Lyn made sure to direct him with a stern hand and an even sterner hit with the blunt end of her sword.

Once again, their blade met, steal against iron, neither wishing to give way from their wielder's strength. Both of them jumped back in order to create distance that could be used to gain momentum, their blows meeting again, with Lyn having the advantage in speed and technique. This was basic knowledge that Michael knew he wouldn't be able to easily fight against, or at all. He would have to rely on what little strength he had and knowledge on her movements and attacks. But that could only go so far if his body couldn't keep up with his mind. Their blades clanged as they met in response to their wielder's commands, horizontal strike met horizontal strike, vertical slash met with a parry or dodged completely. With a graceful jump into the air as she dodged a horizontal slash, Lyn landed on Michael's sword, pulling him to the ground as she placed the tip of the Manti Katti under his chin.

"The second round goes to me as well" Lyn announced.

"I put up a fight" Michael said in response.

"That you did" Lyn agreed as she removed her blade from his neck and got off the sword.

A slight rustling of the leaves in the ground made Lyn snap her neck over to the path they had taken, she let out a small sigh as she began to speak, "You can come out of hiding now. I know you're there."

"Who are you talking to?" Michael asked as he looked in her direction.

"Um…hello" Ninian said timidly as she walked out of the shadows, her brother hiding behind her.

"That was cool…" Nils let out as he clung to his sister's dress.

"How long have the two of you been there?" Michael asked them as they came into view.

"Since Lyn hit your bu−" Nils began, but was interrupted by his sister's hand covering his mouth.

"Since around that last match" Ninian corrected him.

"At least it wasn't during the first one," Michael sighed, "I got my rear end handed to me on a silver platter."

"I wouldn't say a silver one," Lyn teased him, "More like an iron one."

"The Sword Princess has jokes!" Michael moaned as he slapped his forehead.

"'Sword Princess'?" Lyn asked.

"That's a good nickname for you, Lyn" Ninian told her.

"No! Don't tell him it's a good idea! He won't stop calling me that then!" Lyn told Ninian.

"Why are you fighting anyway?" Nils asked, "Did you have an argument?"

"No," Michael told him with a chuckle, "I'm just in training. I can't depend on others to keep me safe forever! Besides, with the end of our adventure drawing near, I want to get as strong as possible."

"In that case…" Nils said as he took out his flute, "I'll play you a song!"

As the flute touched his lips, the orchestra of a melody that Nils produced filled the air with the warmth of life. Animals that were partaking in their nightly rituals hushed as the sound of the music took priority. Every note was like a sweet melody, every sweet melody was like an endless sea of pleasure. With every note Michael found himself lost in a reverie, but he soon noticed that the fatigue he had had from his sparing with Lyn had disappeared. His mind began to race even more quickly than it usually did and Michael felt as if he found the strength to topple fifty men.

Wow…!" Michael gasped in awe as Nils ended his song.

"You messed up that note back halfway through" Ninian told him.

"Drat!" Nils sighed, "And I'd been practicing that one, too."

"Well whatever you did, it certainly energized me!" Lyn informed him.

"Yeah," Michael agreed, "I feel as if I could take on a group of enemies alone."

"Thanks!" Nils said with a face full of red blush, "But my sister's dancing is tons better than my playing."

"Really?" Lyn asked in interest.

"No!" Ninian replied strongly, "I mean…no. I'm not that good. I'm barely more than average when it comes to dancing."

"Well regardless, you both have a gift" Michael told them.

"I can see why those men were after you" Lyn said.

"Was it really because of our music and dancing?" Nils asked, "I don't see why!"

"You're dancing reinvigorated me when I was tired," Michael told him, "With an ability like that, anyone would want it."

"Anyone…?" Ninian asked cautiously.

"Except us," Lyn assured her, "We didn't know about your abilities before. And it doesn't matter now. We're happy to just have you two here."

"And as a thank you for that little song," Michael began as he stood back up, his sword drawn, "How about we go another round or two, Lyn?"

"Fine by me," Lyn answered him as she stood up as well, "I'll beat some more lessons into you!"


	17. Chapter 8: Vortex of Strategy

Chapter 8: Vortex of Strategy

**Author's Notes: **Subtitled: Michael's First Battle! Can the Tactician Deliver a Black horse Victory?! (If any of you were waiting for a suitably bad ass moment from the Tactician, well... you got it.)

* * *

The Legion was making great strides to Caelin. After backtracking to where they were before meeting the siblings, they had encountered good weather and a surprising lack of enemy assaults. They were but a short few days from Castle Caelin and everyone was beginning to be anxious. They've made their way into Caelin territory, but this only means they will encounter even fiercer resistance. During their traveling, Michael took full advantage of Nil's musical abilities to shove in as much swordplay practice with Lyn as he possibly could during the nights. During the day when they were traveling, Michael would inquire about the soldiers, equipment, and formations that Caelin had at its disposal from Kent and Sain. The time for the final battle was drawing near and he needed to have a strategy ready for it by the time they got to their destination.

"The mountains are so far away now…" Lyn whispered in awe as the Legion stopped to take a rest from marching.

"We've come a long way," Michael agreed, "Not much farther now."

"We're only a short time away before we return home" Sain declared with a hint of homesickness in his voice.

"Not long now…Two more days if we hurry" Kent agreed.

"That short, huh?" Lyn asked as she closed her eyes in thought.

"Come on, Lyn!" Florina spoke, "Show us your usual demeanor! You don't want to demoralize all of us, do you?"

"Florina," Lyn said, "You're right. Let's just push through like we usually do!"

"Um…Lyn?" Nils asked, a look of concern on his face.

"Danger!" Ninian said.

"What's wrong?" Michael asked.

"Big trouble, that's what!" Nils agreed.

"What kind of danger?" Lyn asked, a look of wariness in her eyes.

"Anyone see anything suspicious?" Michael asked.

"Nothing as far as the eye can see" Dorcas told him.

"I would STRONGLY recommend that you take a few space to the left, Lyn" Ninian suggested.

"Fine…?" Lyn said, slightly confused as she complied with Ninian's request.

Without warning, a bolt arrow from out of nowhere sailed through the sky and stabbed into the ground where Lyn was standing only a few seconds ago, planting itself firmly into the ground.

"A ballista!" Kent cried.

"Siege weapons against so few of us?!" Sain yelled, "That's so unnecessary!"

"Why is it always arrows?!" Florina cried as she cowered behind Dorcas.

"And ironically, I don't expect anything less than the unnecessary now…" Michael uttered as he looked in the direction of where the bolt came from.

"I think I peed a little…" Erk whispered.

"Gross!" Serra retched as she moved away from him.

"Wait, did I say that out loud?!"

"Guess who's not going to be doing any Pegasus runs this time?" Wil asked while in a panic.

"Would someone mind telling me what a ballista is?" Rath asked, not sharing in the panic everyone else was experiencing.

"Imagine a reeaaallllyy big bow," Wil began to explain to him, "It can shoot reeaaallllyy big arrows several dozen of leagues away. And the person manning it can use it from ANYWHERE."

"Oh," Rath said before the explanation sunk in, "Oh! That IS a problem."

"We're going to need a very strategy to come up on top this time" Serra said as she looked expectantly at Michael, "Keep me safe, please?"

"Please, by all means," Erk countered, "Let her be its first target."

"I've already got a plan!" Michael informed everyone, "Matthew! You can put your sneaking to good…where be Matthew?"

The entire Legion scanned the surrounding area with nary a sight of their little thief.

"Well there goes that plan!" Michael screamed in anger.

"Is there any way to counter that infernal machine?" Lucius asked.

"Of course!" Sain told him.

"Another ballista" Kent finished.

"Looks like we're going to be in a bit of a bind until that thing runs out of bolts" Lyn said.

"The only problem is when" Wil told her.

"Should we go and hide somewhere?" Ninian asked, "We don't want to get in your way."

"Question!" Michael asked as he looked at the siblings, "Does this…danger sense of yours act like an active ability you have control over, or is it a situational kind of thing?"

"We can control it" Nils nodded.

"Then I think we have our strategy for this little speed bump then…" Michael mused, a gleam of mischief in his eye.

"Why don't I like that look in your eye?" Ninian asked apprehensively.

"Nils," Michael began pleadingly as he took Nils by his shoulders, "I'm about to ask something very important of you, something that will turn the tide of this battle in our favor. Will you help me do that?"

"Me? Help?" Nils repeated.

"Yep!" Michael told him with a nod.

"Michael?!" Lyn asked in alarm, "What are you planning?!"

"Nils, will you be the decoy for the ballista?" Michael asked him, ignoring Lyn's worried tone.

"NO!" Ninian raged, "YOU WILL NOT PUT MY BROTHER IN DANGER IF I HAVE A SAY SO!"

"I agree with Ninian," Lyn said, "There's no way you're putting Nils in the line of fire."

"Have you gone mad?!" Lucius asked, "What can young Nils possibly do?"

"Give the Boss some time to explain and you'll see why" Dorcas told them.

"He's never led us astray before…" Sain added, "Let's trust the man some more."

"All I want you to do is just walk through the field and use your ability to avoid the bolt arrows when they are fired at you," Michael continued to tell Nils, "Once they've exhausted their supply, we'll be able to move in and take it's operator down before they can reload it."

"They can't hold too many bolts in them to begin with," Wil informed everyone, "Most can only hold six at a time. Even then they may not have brought ammunition."

"No!" Ninian continued, her mind made up, "I don't want Nils−"

"I'll do it!" Nils said.

"What?!" Ninian asked.

"Sister, they saved us both without even asking anything," Nils told her, "If this is what I can do to fully repay them, then I'll do it!"

Ninian was silent for a moment as her brother's words sunk in, "…Fine. But just this once!"

"Thanks, Ninian" Michael told her.

With Ninian's grudging approval, Nils made his way into what could only be assumed as the enemy's ballista range. Nils looked up to the sky expectantly as he danced from foot to foot, awaiting something that only he knew about. Every now and then, Nils would walk a few spaces away from his current position, which was then set upon by a bolt several seconds later. After half an hour of dancing around the wide open field, the six, and hopefully last, bolt fell from the sky, missing its target, just as all the others had.

"That should be the last one!" Wil announced.

"I say it's time we showed these enemies our strength!" Lyn yelled as she brandished her iron sword.

With a roar of approval from everyone involved, the Legion set out to meet the enemy in a head-on battle. The terrain the Legion traversed through on the way was long and straight, cliffs and narrow passages limiting their movement. Halfway through the cliffs, the first enemies guarding the way met them in battle.

Several cavaliers mounted on horseback charged their lines with their swords and lances. They had backup with sword wielders and some axe wielders. Within those numbers were a select few that seemed to be issued weapons fundamentally different than the rest. Their lances, looking more like axes, while the swords resembled axes, with the axes appearing sword-like.

"Kent! Sain! Dorcas!" Michael ordered, "Charge at the cavaliers! Erk! Wil! Rath! Support them from the rear! Florina! Stay back while we deal with the archer that was manning the ballista! Lyn! Lucius! Act as middlemen for the front and rear! Don't let any enemies break through our line!"

The enemy was skilled. Nothing any of them expected less from trained soldiers. They used tactics and strategy on a level that the common bandits they had faced to that point would never be able to grasp. But Michael was prepared thanks to Kent and Sain's information. He had prepared accordingly. The only problems they were facing was the location of the archer that manned the ballista earlier and the enemies that were wielding strange eversions of the regular weapons the others used.

"Michael!" Ninian screamed out from her hiding place, "Look out! To your left!"

Michael barely had time to register what she had told him before he found himself ducking to avoid an arrow aimed for his head. Turning to his left and looking at the mountains, Michael found the archer priming his shots from a steep ledge. He wouldn't be able to move from his position, but that also meant he wasn't easy to reach. He would have more than enough time to shoot at anyone who came his way unless they snuck up behind him from the other side of the mountains.

"We have too much pressure on us right now…!" Michael muttered as he surveyed the battleground so far.

Dorcas and Erk were keeping two of the cavaliers at bay. Dorcas was using his hand axe to fake out the enemy with feints while Erk chanted and shot his fire spell at them, leaving them open for Dorcas to then chip away at their stamina or their horses' feet.

Kent and Sain were doing a marvelous job of keeping their own share of foes busy. They knew each other's strengths and weaknesses and knew when to fall back or to assist one another when they were under too much fire or were unaware of their surroundings.

Rath and Wil were both shooting for all they were worth in perfect sync. Wil drew in enemy agro with purposefully missed shots that Rath then countered with a perfect shot to the head or another vital spot on an enemy when he drew upon Wil.

Lyn and Lucius had broken ahead and were engaging enemies in their own skirmishes. Lucius was dueling with some dark mages that the enemy had deployed, keeping them at bay with his light magic while at the same time providing supports to either Dorcas or Sain when they truly needed it.

Lyn was dueling with five enemies at once, dancing and weaving through them as they attempted to box her in, hitting themselves in the process. She was like a force of nature unleashed upon the world. Her flips and strikes done with surprising accuracy and speed she rarely ever showed. But she had tell-tale signs of fatigue. She wouldn't be able to keep up that pace for much longer. None of them could.

"Rath! Wil!" Michael shouted over the ever slowly turning chaotic battlefield, "The archer is on the mountains! Detach from the group and pin him down!"

With little less than a nod in affirmation, Wil and Rath ran off from the group and began to scan the mountains in search of the enemy archer, new reinforcements for the enemy joining the battle and going after them.

"Where do these guys keep coming from?!" Michael wondered.

"Michael!" Kent yelled over the sounds of blades clashing, "There's too many of them!" I recommend we retreat further back towards the pass to control the flow!"

"Can't do that!" Michael answered him as Sain intercepted an enemy aiming for Kent while his guard was down, "If we try to funnel them, they'll just end up pinning us. They may not even pursue us. They could just be here to prevent us from going further."

"So we stay here and get nowhere?!" Sain asked as he cut down a knight.

"If that archer weren't around Florina would be giving you all air support by now," Michael explained to them, "As soon as he's out of the picture, we'll be able to gain a foothold."

"So defense is the name of the game?" Erk guessed as he shot another fire spell.

"Fine by me" Dorcas mentioned as he crushed the skull of a soldier with his axe as he threw his hand axe at another flanking Lucius.

"Be careful with those enemies reforming a faction behind the main force!" Michael warned, "Their weapons are different from the rest! Everyone group up a little more! Form groups of three or greater!"

"Michael!" Nils called out this time, "Hit the ground!"

Michael didn't waste time with questioning as he threw his body on the ground. Once again, the archer from earlier was proving to be a giant pain in the ass. Wil and Rath weren't producing any results with shooting him down, he hid in the rocks whenever they lined up a good shot.

"Wil! Rath! Don't worry about him anymore! Just assist the others in breaking through the enemy!" Michael ordered them.

Michael scanned the mountains one more time, hoping he could find a path or something he could possibly lead everyone on so the enemy would have no choice but to funnel themselves, but he couldn't find one safe enough. However, out of the corner of his eye, he could see a familiar red cloak climb down the mountains. Matthew! Finally!

Michael knew better than to give away his position by calling out to him. The archer was as good as taken care of now. Everyone just had to worry about staying mobile enough to not get hit now.

"Just keep on the defensive for a little longer!" Michael cheered everyone on, "We'll be making our comeback soon!"

"How soon?" Florina asked anxiously, "How long will I have to sit here watching everyone else fight?"

"How's a few minutes work for you?" Michael asked her back.

The fighting continued, everyone was now definitely showing signs of fatigue, both on the Legion's side and the enemy's. This was not a battle of skill or power, but a battle of endurance and adaptability. No sophisticated planning or tactics could prove useful against such simple means.

"This is hard to watch…" Serra muttered.

"No it isn't" Michael agreed.

"So, how's the battle going?" Matthew asked as he put his arm on Michael's shoulder.

"Bad," Michael told him absentmindedly, "The enemy archer's been aiming for me the entire time we've been in range. I think they've…When did you get back?" Michael asked.

"About ten seconds ago" Matthew told him.

"The enemy archer?" Michael inquired.

"Took a trip down the mountain" Matthew told him.

"Florina!" Michael shouted with renewed vigor, "It's time to take to the skies and bring our enemy defeat from the sky! Aim for the ones with the swords or ones that look fatigued first!"

"Got it!" Florina told him as she set off on Huey.

"So what did you spend such a long time doing?" Michael asked Matthew, trying to hide the anger in his tone the best he could.

"Doing some digging for information" Matthew told him, ignoring his biting tone if he could hear it, "And let me tell you, it was nothing good."

"Oh?"

"But that can wait until later. By the way, do you know what this is?" Matthew handed him a strange sword.

"Is this a sword?" Michael asked hoping for an answer, "It practically looks like an axe!"

"That's what I said!" Matthew agreed, "The old man who gave it to me was rambling on for so long I just tuned him out a one point. Something about being good for lances…"

Michael eyes widened in shock and realization, "That's it! This is a lance reaver!"

"Would you mind explaining?" Matthew asked, completely lost.

"This is a sword custom made to completely demolish lances and spears. And only that. Any other use with it is pretty much impossible. Of course, there's also an axe and lance version of this…That's it!"

"Would you stop saying that?!" Matthew asked.

"Keep your ears open!" Michael told him as he began to shout out his next orders, "Everyone! The enemies in the back are using the reaver family weapons! Don't attack the sword wielders with lances! Don't attack the axe wielders with swords! Don't attack the lance wielders with axes!" Attack with the exact opposite of with the same type of weapon as them!"

"What's a reaver?!" Lyn grunted as she pushed back one of the enemies she was fighting.

"A really good but bad weapon" Matthew explained as he stabbed one of her enemies in the back, "But less talking more fighting!"

With renewed faith in victory thanks to Florina's participation in battle, the Legion finally began to carve their way into the enemy. When the final soldier of the initial wave fell, the backline troops that carried the weaver weapons were shocked when the enemies they expected to go against knowing they would have the advantage reorganized and attacked the one's opposite to their plan. Within in seconds, what would have been their clear advantage became the Legion's advantage as they proved they had the knowledge, and thus the means, to countering the reaver weapons they possessed.

"It's final over" Lucius sighed as wiped the sweat from his brow.

"Not yet it's not!" Lyn reminded him, "We still have the enemy commander to deal with.

"There are only a handful of men within the Caelin army that have the authority to call for reaver weapons" Sain said.

"It is either General Wallace, Lord Lundgren himself, or Commander Yogi" Kent finished.

"I doubt its Lundgren," Michael told them, "He wouldn't put himself in such a dangerous position unless his hand was forced."

"I HOPE it's not General Wallace," Sain shivered, "He would have met us in battle otherwise. He's not one for waiting in a fortress while his men get the 'good part' as he would put it."

"Sounds like you know him quite well" Michel noticed.

"We both do," Kent told him, "He trained both of us."

"Are you as good a fighter as him?" Lyn asked.

"No" Kent and Sain said in unison.

"I hope it isn't him then," Michael hoped, "We'll be flattened then."

"Only way to find out then is to go and see the commander himself!" Matthew mentioned as jaunt over to the enemy base.

As the Legion made their way over, the commander of the enemy forces met them alongside the bridge over the mountain.

He had light brown hair that was cleanly kept back and controlled. His mustache seemed to be the one thing he took the most pride in because it was well maintained and seemed to shine as if made a habit of waxing it. His squinted eyes held a stare that made those below him know he was in charge, and he was not slow to anger. His blue armor shined in the sun as it reflected off the numerous badges that clung to his armor.

"Humph!" He said as they all drew near, "It seems one ballista wasn't enough to end your little group. Or that entire battalion of soldiers for that matter."

"Commander Yogi," Kent addressed him, "Please, see reason! Lundgren is leading you astray!"

"I will not waste words with knights as disgraceful as yourselves!" Commander Yogi spat at Kent, "If Wallace could see how far you have fallen…"

"Leave General Wallace out of this!" Sain yelled.

"It seems he isn't so much the talking sort" Erk said.

"Allow me to face him," Lyn announced, "As a man of war, it's only fitting a leader do battle with a leader."

"Stand down, Lyn" Michael told her.

"What?!" Lyn asked, to which everyone else agreed.

"All of you are tired from the battle," Michael noted, "Some more than others. I'm the only one here who is still not fatigued in the least."

"Sorry to say this Boss," Dorcas told him, "But that's just ridiculous."

"Are you a ninny?!" Serra yelled at him, "He'll flatten you like a pancake in seconds!"

Lyn looked at Michael with a questioning look for a while before surrendering with a smile. Without a word she sat down.

"Nothing left to do but wait for you to win" She said.

Following in her steed, Kent and Sain sat down as well, "I remember when Michael said that exact same thing in Bulgar" Kent reminisced.

"Back then we only had bandits to fight," Sain remembered, "Good times, those were."

"Are you all okay?" Wil asked, "Michael's kind of walking into his own death!"

"Actually…" Dorcas trailed off as he sat down as well, "If you look into the Boss's eyes, that look he has in them make me believe he won't lose."

"If Lyn believes in Michael, then so do I!" Florina said as she dismounted Huey and sat next to Lyn.

Serra shrugged as she sat down as well, "Who am I to fight the status quo?"

"Do try not to spill your guts everywhere" Erk suggested to Michael as he sat down as well.

"I find it odd that the tactician of the group would do battle in the stead of a warrior," Yogi mused, "Just what kind of deranged plan have you devised?"

"But that is just the thing," Michael told him, "The very minute I volunteered myself to fight you destroyed any last chance you had of a victory!"

"Ha! Quite the boast from one so green! Well very, I shall give you the honor of the first blow! Come at me any way you wish."

"Lyn…" Michael said as he outstretched his hand, "Would you give me your sword? I can't use this one, it's too heavy."

"Here" Lyn told him as she exchanged the lance weaver for the iron sword.

"And one more thing!" Michael told her as he untied his cloak, "Hold this, please."

Commander Yogi watched on with not even a face or word of complaint.

"I apologize for the wait," Michael told him, "But let us finally bring this battle to its conclusion!"

Silently, Commander Yogi drew his weapon; an axe reaver, to his side. Unmoving, he awaited Michael to start the first attack. Observing his stance to find an opening, Michael took his own stance, his sword fixed in front of him as he gripped the bottom of the handle with both hands. There were no visible openings that he could take advantage of, so the only thing Michael could do was to make one himself. Daringly, Michel charged in.

With a clash of steel versus iron, the sword and the lance collided. With the first strike both combatants knew that Yogi was the more physically powerful of the two. But that was stating the obvious to both of them. Instead, Michael used this first blow to see how yogi would react to attacks that he chained. As soon as the force from the initial blow wore off, Michael began to furiously stab at Yogi from all manner of angles. Some were feints meant to trip him up, while other were purposely missed blows to observe the full extent of Yogi's range from close up. However, Commander Yogi seemed to have the same idea, because with whatever small blows Michael sent his way, he only focused on the ones that seemed to aim right for the center of his chest. Sensing that this exchange was going nowhere with neither gaining any usable information, Michael jumped back.

"I take it this is not the first time you've held a weapon?" Yogi assumed, "You are very talented for one so unused to the ways of the blade. I imagine you have not been taught long?"

"Correct," Michael admitted, "This is only the tenth time I've even held a blade. My lessons haven't even been going on for more than a month. But I have only my incredibly skilled master to thank for how far I've come so far."

Lyn blushed slightly at the praise.

"Les than a month?" Yogi repeated in shock. "For such a short time you've proven to be quite fearsome. I shudder to think of what you could be capable of in a year or two's time. I'm afraid though that I must not harbor such curiously for an enemy. You could prove dangerous enough to topple our land just the way you command your forces now. If I cannot gain victory here, I shall instead settle for ending your life!"

With that claim, Commander Yogi charged at Michael. With a quick sidestep to the right, Michael put up his sword to defend himself, barely blocking the strike as Yogi's speed proved to be greater than first anticipated. Sparks flew off their weapons as the battle continued, Michael nimble and slim frame allowing his to dodge and dive away from attacks that would otherwise be unavoidable to anyone else with a more muscular body. The gap in experience was all but obvious as the two continued their battle. Though Michael had the weapon advantage, he didn't have the expertise or skill to truly turn that in his favor. He was also beginning to tire, while Yogi appeared to barley be breathing more than necessary.

"Such haggard breathing already?" Yogi taunted, "Next you'll be on the ground coughing up blood."

"Not quite!" Michael responded as he jumped out of his range and took a stance that everyone from the Legion knew all too well.

"Is he…?!" Kent asked.

"He is!" Sain confirmed, "Right?!" He asked as he looked at Lyn.

He definitely is" Lyn nodded, trying and failing to hide a smile of pride.

"Allow me to grant you an honor!" Michael told Yogi as he crouched down into his stance, his sword being held at his side with both hands firmly gripping it, "The honor of being the first foe for me to use this technique against!

Moving as if he was both slow and fast, Michael disappeared in a mirage of his own reflections as Yogi's eyes widened in shock as he began to scan the area in front of him.

"Surprise" Michael whispered into his ear as he appeared behind Yogi's back, partaking in the opportunity to deliver a diagonal slash to his back, before sliding off of his momentum to deliver another slash to his side. After the second blow, Michael rolled under Yogi's legs and performed a few jumps as he made distance between him and his opponent.

Yogi was bleeding from two long cuts along both his back and side. But even with so much damage done to him, he was still in control of himself. "That technique…" Commander Yogi muttered, "It is still incomplete."

Michael lowered his weapon as he nodded in agreement, "I'm still not skilled enough to go through with the entire move. In fact, I'm lucky I even managed to deliver the second strike. My master would have you dead by now if you two were fighting."

"This only makes me fear and respect you more" Commander Yogi told him, "Your master sounds like a sword master above all others. And if you are even a fraction of that person's strength now…I can only dream of the soldier that you can become someday with more training."

"I need to win here today to do that," Michael reminded him, "And from the look of things, that still hasn't been decided."

"A cautious foe…" If only half of the enemies I faced were as intelligent as you, I'd have not retired so early before reinstating."

With that last thought Yogi charged once again, but this time, he performed a prefect feint that Michael could see through. With a beautiful swing, Commander Yogi connected his axe reaver with Michael's side, sending him rolling away from the Legion by several feet. Dazed, Michael rose to barely avoid being skewered at the end of the lance but not soon enough to avoid being punched in his stomach, which was then followed through with a hefty toss by Michael's shoulders that sent his several feet.

"You're quite light" Yogi told him as Michael writhed in pain.

"I prefer the term lean!" Michael squeaked through clenched teeth.

Unsteadily, Michael rose, his vision disoriented. Hurriedly, Michael slapped his forehead with his palm to realign his vision. Once again, he took his sword stance, somehow he had still managed to keep his hand on his weapon throughout his beating. This battle was going on longer than he had anticipated, but that didn't mean he was ready to admit defeat. As Yogi charged him once again, Michael put his sword up to block the blow directly, putting all his weight and strength he could muster behind it. His blade and Yogi's lance clashed with a sharp clang as the two pushed each other in order to gain ground. The wounds Michael had inflicted earlier were slowing his down as well as sapping his strength.

"Another thing my master taught me." Michael told Yogi, "When you are against an enemy that is skilled enough to either fight on or above your level, if you keep eye contact, you can predict and avoid all of their movements!"

Not breaking his eye contact with Yogi's Michael put all his strength into his sword as he pushed Yogi back, relying on his legs to not give out as he did so. Once Yogi relented and allowed himself to be pushed back, winded up for a diagonal slash and swung with all his might as Yogi intercepted it. Still not breaking eye contact throughout all of this exchange, Michael ducked and rolled under Yogi's legs, jumping up as he turned to his side and delivered a swift kick to the wound Michael had inflicted earlier. With a grunt of pain, Yogi flailed his lance as far back as he could trying to hit Michael, but Michael dived out to his left as soon as he had kicked.

"N-not….the most….conventional of fighting strategies…" Commander Yogi huffed as he regained his balance.

"Not at all," Michael agreed, "But it works. The eyes are a gateway into the mind. If you can grasp your enemy's actions, they're that much closer to defeat."

Not allowing him to catch his breath, Michael charged this time, still keeping his gaze firmly fixed on Yogi's eyes. Bracing himself for a frontal assault, Yogi raised his axe weaver to defend himself. However, the doubt in his eyes showed through for Michael, and he used that to his advantage. Just a moment before reaching close range, Michael performed a feint, catching Yogi off-guard as he flinched. Using that small window of opportunity, Michael ducked and rolled under his legs as he raised his sword up and stabbed his sword through Yogi's abdomen and drove it through until it broke through his back. Without a word, Commander Yogi fell to the ground onto his face.

"H-h-how…?" Commander Yogi gasped in disbelief.

"I could see into your mind" Michael told him as he gasped to catch his breath, "You thought I would go through with my frontal charge. Since I knew you thought I would do that, I used that knowledge against you."

"I-I-I see…" Yogi gasped again, "Truly…a….fearsome….student….with an…even more…fearsome…master…" commander Yogi said as his life bled out of him.

With the battle over and their victory won, Michael dropped to his knees and lost consciousness, his energy drained from the whole ordeal.


	18. Interlude 8: Unwelcome News

Interlude 8: Unwelcome News

**Author's Notes: **This isn't a full blown interlude, just the in-between dialogue from chapter 8 and 9 with a little pinch of some insight into Michael's past. Kinda rushing a little now so I can get to the really juicy finale! But don't worry! I'll have a damn good interlude for you guys before the final chapter! I should probably get chapter 19 up by late night tomorrow. But I'll try to get it up so you all can read it before bed.

* * *

"_Jeigan…" _Michael heard the voice of a small child as he dreamed, _"When will I be able to see Mommy and Daddy again?"_

"_Very soon, young one" _A voice answered the child. The voice of an old man Michael knew well.

"_When is that?" _The child asked.

"_Soon. Tomorrow even!"_ Jeigan assured.

"_But I want to see them today! Why aren't they here for my birthday?" _The child asked again, his little voice breaking slightly.

"_I'm not too sure myself, young one. But let me make a promise; I shall go to the palace tomorrow and ask myself, is that alright?" _Jeigan was trying to calm the child before he burst into tears.

"_Okay! It's a promise!"_ The child said, perking up in an instant. Silence engulfed Michael's mind for a short while after the child's last word.

"_What do you mean they can't come?! Why?! Don't they love me?" _The child's voice asked a he broke the moment of silence. His voice was even more broken up then it was before.

"_Young one, I do not know why myself, but they must have a good reason for not allowing your parents out." _Jeigan was trying to reason with the boy, but even he was unsure as his own voice carried doubt in it.

"_But I want to see them now! I never see them! Why can't they come the one day I want them to?" _The child yelled. He was angry. Disappointed. Betrayed. Heartbroken.

"_I am sorry, young one…" _Jeigan apologized. He sounded truly hurt to have not been able to deliver onto his promise to the child.

In that same instant, the dream shattered, Michael's consciousness slowly being brought back to reality. He could hear voices, muffled and agitated as he began to readjust to his surroundings. From what he could make out, no one was happy.

"-terrible! How can he do such a thing unopposed?"

"No one has the spine of the proof to back up the rumors. The common people's gossip holds no clout."

"Trust me, I had hard enough a time getting just those little tidbits. Just the rumor alone cost me a fair bit of coin."

"Thank you none the less, Matthew."

"Well this is a fine situation we have found ourselves in, yes?! But wait! Our sleeping friend here is awaking!"

"Uh," Michael groaned as he pulled himself up, "Why do I feel like I just went ten rounds with Dorcas?"

"Probably because you were fighting for your life!" Sain told him as he gave Michael a congratulatory slap on the back, "You were simply awe-inspiring!"

"That was quite the show you put on for us all" Kent agreed with a nod.

"You were very brave out there," Lyn told him, her voice closer to his than any other, "But your form and performance were very lacking. You were lucky the enemy took you lightly in the beginning." Michael had seen that she was sitting down on her knees right next to him. As he looked back down, he figured out that she had provided her lap as a pillow for him after he had lost consciousness.

"Can the judging wait until later?" Michael asked with a grunt of pain as he flecked his shoulders.

"That's not the only thing that has to wait for later!" Matthew butted in, "We've got trouble."

"When don't we have it?" Erk asked sarcastically.

"What do you mean?" Michael asked, suddenly alert.

"It's about my grandfather," Lyn began to tell him, "My granduncle, he…he's poisoning my grandfather!"

"What?!" Michael asked in alarm, "How long? How much?"

"No one knows" Sain told him, "But that's not the end of the bad news."

"Lundgren has called for support from the neighboring territories and countries," Kent began, "He has made claim that an illegitimate girl from the plains has come to make claim to the Caelin throne. He wishes for assistance in dealing with this…rouge."

"The situation is slowly deteriorating…"Rath commented, "This is not good."

"There's no way Illia will become involved," Florina said breathlessly, though trying to convince herself more than anyone else with her words, "My sister wouldn't allow it."

"If any of those territories answer his call," Michael began, "We'll never make it to Caelin alive. We'll be slaughtered."

"Well what can we do to get out of this?" Wil asked Michael expectantly.

"I…have no idea" Michael sighed, "I never expected this kind of thing to happen."

"Eliwood!" Lyn declared.

"What about him?" Michael asked.

"He said that if we needed any help, we should talk to him!"

"That's right!" Michael exclaimed as he clapped his hands together.

"We have to go back to Kathelet!" Lyn ordered.

Everyone raced to get their things together as the Legion made their way back towards the mountains, hopeful that they would be able to make their way back to Eliwood before he had left to return to his own home. It was a perilous journey back. More than one night of rest was forgoed so that the group would take less time to return. With each day more time was given to Lundgren to prepare and amass his forces while the marquess of Caelin's life was drained away. All the more time that was given for his lies to spread and for the group to slowly lose any control over the situation.

Luckily, within a few days of informing Eliwood of their plight, he was able to send word to every territory that Lundgren's words were false. However, while doing so, he only made the territories remain neutral to the whole dispute over the Caelin throne. No allies were to be made, but no enemies were to be gained.

"I'm sorry I couldn't do more for your plight" Eliwood told them, genuine sympathy in his eyes.

"What you've done is more than enough, Eliwood," Lyn assured him, "The rest is up to me now."

"I wish you the best" Eliwood said to her as he walked away, his time in Kathelet done as he disembarked for his own home.

"All that's left to do now is to march back to Caelin and be done with this whole affair" Michael sighed.

"We've had a little more backtracking than you'd like, Boss?" Dorcas asked him.

Michael nodded, "I don't like what this means for the time we have left."

"We'll all be fine," Dorcas assured him, "After all, we have the best damn tactician in the world among our numbers."


	19. Chapter 9: Grim Reunion

Chapter 9: A Grim Reunion

**Author's Notes: **I FEEL SO HOTBLOODED RIGHT NOW IT ISN'T EVEN FUNNY!

But in all seriousness, Wallace is one of the most bad-ass characters in the game. The MOST bad-ass in Lyn's story without a doubt. But any player of the series will know that by the end of the game, that will change. Honestly, I hope he doesn't turn out that way in this fic.

* * *

With the aid of Eliwood, Lyndis's Legion is free from the trouble of outside forces interfering in Lundgren's mad attempt to gain the Caelin throne. Now, they all race back towards Caelin to put an end to this bitter struggle once and for all. They are almost at the end of their journey, but the true danger is still just around the corner.

"This weather is foul!" Sain complained as they all rode through an incoming fog.

"If the fog gets any thicker, we won't be able to tell our hand from our weapons," Kent added, "I pray we won't have to fight in such conditions."

"Nothing good ever happens after we say things like that, has anyone else noticed that, or is it just me?" Erk asked.

"Don't worry too much," Michael told them, "I'm sure if we run into some trouble we can just get Lyn to talk to some people and we'll get some useful item or another."

"You say that like it happens to me all the time" Lyn told him.

"To be fair," Wil said, "That has happened quite a bit. I mean, I joined just because you knocked on a door saying you were fighting bandits."

"If only I had half the people skills you did!" Lucius said with slight envy, "Why, I'd be able to quell any struggle!"

"I wouldn't have to pay people just to tell me stuff!" Matthew said in a daze as he daydreamed about such a skill with people.

"Ok, fine! So I have a habit of getting stuff from unlikely place! Now where's the best route to the castle?" Lyn asked.

"Down south," Kent answered her, "But we would have to cross through General Eagler's estate to get there."

"And with our luck, there WILL be a fight" Michael added.

"He doesn't have many troops, thankfully" Sain mentioned.

"But as a veteran of battle, he won't go down easily" Kent pointed out.

"What he doesn't have in quantity, he'll have in quality" Dorcas reasoned.

"And we've both quantity and quality," Rath countered, "We shall be as victorious as we have always been."

"We're too close to our goal to lose now!" Florina reminded everyone.

"We'll be cheering for you every step of the way!" Ninian and Nils told the group.

Elsewhere, on General Eagler's Estate, alongside the general was a man larger than life itself. A man as large as a house. His bald head and his fierce black eyes were tell-tale signs to any who knew or heard of him that he was a man of extreme passion and even more extreme prowess in battle. In his impenetrable armor that encased him from head to toe during battle shined in the deteriorating sunlight as he eagerly awaited his chance to give his trusty axe a taste of the battlefield, swinging it into the air with barely contained excitement.

"Having a hard time keeping to ourselves, are we, Wallace?" A man spoke up to the giant.

The man had light green haired that he kept slicked back at all times. His small eyes, mustache, and beard gave him a look as if he was always plotting something. He wore regal red armor adorned in medal he had gained throughout the many campaigns he had participated in.

"I'm just anxious to see this imposter with my own eyes," The giant told the man, "I want to see the face of the woman who could sway two knights that I personally trained."

"I must agree to your attitude in wanting to see this usurper's face myself," The man mused, "But I also have to remind you that I am the one in charge should we meet the group in combat. You are to NOT go running off to face them by yourself."

"Like you'll be able to stop me if I do!" The giant laughed.

"Wallace," The man said again in a warning tone, "I am serious. Don't go charging head first into battles when you know nothing of the enemy. For all we know, she could be a child!"

"A child with a sharp sword and even sharper wit?" The giant known as Wallace asked.

"I admit I have my doubts," The man sighed, "But we should be open to anything."

"I believe you have some last minute preparations to make, Commander Eagler?" Wallace asked.

"Correct" The man known as Eagler nodded, "By my leave."

With that, Eagler left Wallace alone on the estate, with only Wallace's growing curiosity as a companion. But as with every man ruled by passion and emotion, Wallace soon took off for the only place the group could possibly come from. He would see this mystery woman for himself. He would see if the legacy she claimed to descend from was genuine or not.

Back with the Legion, the group was preparing for their assault on Eagler's estate.

"Are there really so few enemies?" Michael asked Matthew as he returned from his reconnaissance mission near the estate.

"Yep," Matthew assured him, "There's only about a handful of men here. I'd wager that almost all of Caelin's forces are either searching for us or converging in the capital for the off chance we make it there."

"A wise assumption to make," Lyn said, "We'll make short work of any enemies that engage us here and be on the fast track to Caelin."

"Someone seems tense…" Sain whispered to Wil, who giggled a little in response, but then stifled his laugh.

"Not funny" Wil told him.

"This fog is going to ruin my robes!" Serra complained as wiped away some moisture that was clinging to her priestess robes.

"Want a light?" Erk asked as he extended a small fireball in her direction.

"As a member of the church, Ms. Serra," Lucius began, "You should not being complaining about the blessing of the elements. Did they not teach you about thanking the Earth for both the good and the bad?"

"I'm sorry Lucius. I'll do whatever you say" Serra said, almost in a trance as she stared at the buds of dew sticking to Lucius's face.

"Why do I still travel with you all?" Rath asked as he saw the exchange unfold.

"So I take it everyone knows our strategy and has no questions?" Michael asked, making sure there was no miscommunication before their battle began.

"You never told us your plan" Kent explained to him.

"That's because this situation doesn't really deserve one" Michael told him flat out, annoyed by the lack of enemy presence.

"Do we really need to hide if you aren't concerned?" Ninian asked as she wiped some water off her shoulder.

"Can't we just stay with you guys the entire time this time?" Nils asked.

"Even with so few enemies, we don't want to put you two in harm's way" Lyn told him as she shook her head.

"If this fog gets really bad," Matthew said to everyone, "Just leave navigating to me. Thiev…I mean treasure hunters have a knack for finding their way."

"You're not fooling anybody with that lie" Florina told him straight out.

"When did Lady Florina become a second Kent?" Sain asked.

"About the same time I needed to take a vacation" Kent responded.

"Alright!" Michael announced to break up the little bickering that had become commonplace within the Legion, "Let's get this show on the road!"

As Ninian and Nils ducked into another hiding place they managed to find out of nowhere, the group began to mobilize. Except when they began to move, an enemy ran towards them, the ground quaking under them with every step their mysterious adversary took towards them.

"Oh my!" Sain squeaked as he pulled back on the reigns of his horse, visibly shivering as the figure came into view.

"This is very bad!" Kent whispered as he acted in a manner similar to Sain.

"What's bad?!" Michael asked as he felt a huge pressure upon them.

"I think they're talking about that walking mountain coming towards us" Dorcas pointed out obviously.

"Look who we have here!" The enemy cried as he stopped in front of the group, his armor clanking all the while.

"G-g-g-general…!" Sain let out in a panic.

"Wallace…" Kent finished for him.

"Remind me again who this man is?" Lyn asked as he placed her arm cautiously over her sword, ready to draw it at a moment's notice.

"General Wallace is my name" The man introduced himself.

"He's the man who trained us" Kent informed everyone.

"The man who could crush stone with just his knees!" Sain added.

"Kent. Sain." Wallace addressed the two knights with a sigh, "I'm disappointed in you. Both of you! And usually only Sain did that! But to cooperate with a young woman who's looking to take the throne….I feel betrayed. I only retired from the army because I was leaving two knights as capable as yourselves behind!"

"General Wallace!" Kent cried in desperation, "Please, believe us when we say that this young woman among us is the one and only heir to the Caelin throne!"

"With every fiber of my being I agree!" Sain shouted, somehow finding some courage.

Wallace let out a mighty laugh at Kent's and Sain's valor. "Very well! If you are so convinced that you are willing to draw your swords and spears against your country, let me determine for myself her worth!"

"I've nothing to hide from you," Lyn told him plainly, "Let my eyes speak for me!"

As Michael watched this whole scene unfold along with everyone else, he felt as if he tried to intervene, he would either end up dead or putting everyone in life-threatening danger. Forcing his instincts down his throat, Michael watched as Wallace walked right in front of Lyn, his towering stature dwarfing hers as he looked deeply into her eyes.

"Those eyes…" Wallace muttered, "Those are the same green eyes that Madelyn had. Full of strength and conviction. Not worrying for the consequences and only keeping your goal in mind…"

"General Wallace?" Kent asked.

"Very well, girlie!" Wallace shouted, "Your eyes have convinced me! I've seen the truth through your soul! Count me among your army! With me by your side, the enemy will fall like twigs in a storm!"

"Really?" Lyn asked, completely dumbfounded.

"Really!" Wallace told her with a smile, "What's your name little lady?"

"Lyndis" Lyn told him.

"Lyndis…" Wallace said to himself, "A fine name. A strong name. No wonder you've survived for so long."

"We have our tactician to thank for that" Lyn told Wallace.

"You have a tactician?" Wallace asked, "Where?"

"I believe you are speaking about me?" Michael asked as he stepped forward.

"Ah, so this is the brilliant mind that brought everyone who fought you to their knees!" Wallace said as he looked Michael over.

"I didn't realize that I was so famous" Michael told him.

"After what happened to Yogi's forces?!" Wallace asked with a laugh, "There's not a commander in all of Caelin that doesn't know of you, boy!"

"I have a name," Michael reminded him, "And word caught on that quick?"

"Oh?" Wallace asked as he laughed again, "Sorry! How rude of me to not ask the brilliant mind behind the army his name?! What IS your name tiny man?"

"My name is Michael" Michael introduced himself.

"Good name!" Wallace said with approval, "So, Michael…How about we stop with the pleasantries and get down to kicking some ass down in the field?!"

"I couldn't have said it better myself!" Michael told him as he waved everyone else to begin to mobilize again.

Michael had a hell of a time keeping Wallace in line as he was more than happy enough to run ahead of everyone else, somehow moving faster than even Kent, Sain, or Rath on their own mounts. What little resistance that the group met while making their way towards Eagler's estate was decimated by Wallace without so much as a second thought.

"He's a monster!" Lyn said in disbelief as Wallace tossed a man several feet away. A man that was covered in full armor.

"I'm glad he's on our side," Dorcas said as he nodded his head, "I would hate to have to beat him for title of the 'strongest man'."

"Why do you think I was scared earlier?!" Sain asked as he pulled back his horse, "The man's broken boulders with his bare KNEES!"

"I remember that day!" Kent said, "That was a bbaaadd day to be one of his students."

"Regardless," Lyn said, "With him on our side, the battle against my granduncle will be all the easier."

"Hey, Michael!" Wallace yelled across the entire battlefield, "Would you mind granting me a small favor?!"

"Sure, if you can just stop yelling so much…" Michael told him.

"Let me fight Eagler" Wallace told him flatly.

"I should face him," Lyn interjected, "As the leader of this group, it is my duty to fight every leader."

"That may be," Wallace admitted, "But Eagler and I have fought with each other in mortal combat against many enemies for years. If he is to die here, it should be by the hand of someone who can give him a dignified end. Not like the one Yogi received."

"Commander Yogi died without regrets!" Michael told Wallace sharply.

"He died praising his opponent" Kent agreed.

"At least he had that much…" Wallace sighed as he slowed down his pace.

"Are you alright, General Wallace?" Kent asked.

"I'm not your general anymore," Wallace reminded him, "This conversation just got me a little sentimental is all. Many of the men you have faced were men I fought with for many years. I suppose I'm a bit nostalgic for the old times. Back when things were a lot simpler."

"Permission granted" Michael told Wallace.

"Let's just get this over with so we can go!" Serra complained, "My robes are getting drenched by the fog!"

"If any of us look we'll be turned to stone" Erk stated flatly.

As the Legion made their final steps onto Eagler's estate, the man himself walked to meet them out on his doorstep. His silver lance gleaned clearly even while distorted by the steady fog that had rolled in.

"Wallace…" Eagler said calmly as Wallace walked up to him, "Do you betray Caelin for these traitors and liars?"

"Lundgren is the true liar!" Wallace yelled at Eagler, "This woman is the true blood of the marques! The spark in her eyes doesn't lie to me! Her mother had the same flare that her daughter has!"

"So you betray the country who made you the man you are today just by the look of some random girl's eye? How foolish…"

"Foolish? No. Eagler, the true foolish one is the man who bows his head to his ruler without thinking! He is nothing more than a mindless beast without his freedom to choose!"

But you forget Wallace. The soldier does not pass judgment. He only delivers it."

"And deliver it I shall…to Lundgren himself!"

"So be it….If words cannot dissuade you, then my lance will have to correct your folly…"

"My axe has always guided me well! Come, Eagler!" Wallace yelled for all he was worth, "Let us have one last bout! May the victor give the loser an honorable end! Draw!"

"And may he decide the fate of our nation!" Eagler yelled himself as he brandished his lance.

And so the two veteran gods of the war-torn battlefield began their dance to the death. Silver versus silver as axe and lance met each other in a clash of sparks and conviction. With no clever tactics or dishonorable moves, the two just bravely met each other's weapons head on with their own as they just threw caution to the wind. The fog did not slow them down, it did not cloud their vision, and it did not spray water in their eyes or clung to their skin. The fog itself spiraled around them, as if blocking anyone from interfering with this fated duel of the two giants putting their convictions on the line.

Wallace winded up his swing as the brought down his axe with all of his strength against Eagler, who used the tip of his lance to block the incoming blow, both weapons suspended in midair as the two struggled to break through the other's attack. Eventually, the two both relented at the same moment as they backed away to prepare their next attacks. Every time they sent their weapons at each other with the intent to end them then and there, and each time their weapons met, as if denying the other the satisfaction of ending the battle. Without pause they continued their struggle, neither needing to catch their breath, their gaze focused solely on the other, nothing but gaining victory on their mind.

"Wallace is pushing him back" Michael stated.

"You can tell?" Lyn asked him, "They look equal to me."

"Eagler is trying to keep him at a distance so he can't put all his power into a blow without leaving himself vulnerable. Wallace is slowly pushing himself closer, centimeter by centimeter."

"How can you manage such a feat?" Kent asked him.

"By watching all of you fight" Michael told him.

As their weapons once again met in a clash, Wallace took this opportunity and grabbed Eagler's silver lance with his free hand as he slid closer to Eagler. Realizing what he was doing, Eagler let go of his weapon, just as Wallace let go of his own to ball his fist as he threw his left hook as hard as he could. In equal measure, Eagler returned his first with his own. In unison, both figures had the other's fist sunk into their cheek as they leaned back from the force of their blows. Unflinchingly, both combatants took up their weapons once again and retreated some few paces back before facing each other again.

"For a man a stocky as you, you are quite fast" Eagler told Wallace as he wiped away at the area where Wallace had punched him.

"And for one so puny, you certainly have a strong fist!" Wallace smiled at Eagler, his grin reaching from ear to ear with a hungry look in his eye.

Without warning, the two charged at each other once again, with even more ferocity than before, their sense of battle renewed with the exchange of blows. Sparks ignited in the air regardless of the moisture in the clouds as the continual sound of axe meeting lance echoed in the air. Each men knew the other's every move and knew how to counter with their own. The battle, if it could even be called as such after the first few blows were exchanged, soon became an all-out war between the two.

"I feel like I'm watching a battle between gods…" Wil muttered.

"This is the pinnacle of human strength" Sain told him, his eyes focused on the conflict in front of him.

Again, lance and axe clashed, battling for supremacy as the men wielding them refused to tire as blow upon continuous blow met with nothing more than sparks. Seconds turned into minutes as the two continued to dance in their deadly sphere of strength and silver. Neither man wanted to lose. In fact, both most likely wanted their battle to last for eternity. But one must die today so that the other could continue on. In a risky move brought on by his blood rage, Wallace threw his axe at Eagler, startling the paladin as he sidestepped to avoid the blow, only did he see his folly when he saw a chain thrown around his lance as it was violently pulled from his hand in one powerful jerk. With a thunderous roar, Wallace ran into Eagler for all he was worth as he began to send his opponent a barrage of punches along his abdomen and chest.

Staggering from the pure power and quantity of the blows, Eagler fell to his knee as Wallace took him by both sides of his armor and tossed him into the window of his estate, collapsing the nearby wall around him. Moving the planks and stone from his person, Eagler gasped in pain as he felt no weapon at his side for him to grab. As he looked up he saw Wallace descending upon him, his axe retrieved as Eagler's lance remained forgotten in the wet grass, the chain still coiled around it.

"Wallace…" Eagler gasped as he looked upon his former friend and comrade, blood dribbling from his nose, "P-protect Caelin. Protect its splendor… Protect the people….Protect those from…from Lundgren's tyranny. Promise me"

"You have my solemn oath" Wallace assured his friend as he raised his axe to deliver judgment.

"Then I…have no regrets…" Eagler said with a smile as he closed his eyes in anticipation.

Wordlessly, Wallace brought his axe down with all his strength. It was clean. It was quick. It was an honorable death for an honorable solider and an honorable man.

Silently, Wallace began to walk along the path to Caelin, not looking back to see the others following him.

"General Wallace?" Lyn asked as she tried to look him in the eyes.

"When we meet Lundgren at the castle," Wallace said as he continued to look forward, "**Let me have the first blow. I will make him pay for sending good men like Eagler to their deaths**."


	20. Interlude 9: Eve of the Final Battle

Interlude 9: Eve of the Final Battle

**Author's Notes: **We are finally here! The finale for Lyn's story is about to begin! All I can say is that it has been fun writing this fic every step of the way.

Now for some reviews...

Rotciv557: Believe it or not, I don't have any of this written ahead of time. I just write whenever I have the time. Mostly because my schedule leaves me a lot of it right now. The only thing I have planned out at all for this fic is Michael's backstory and the final battle. And I did try to make Eagler come off similar to Mustafa. Where do you think that 'soldiers don't judge' line came from? =D

Zallow: I won't be making Michael O.P. He my become a badass, but not O.P. But let's just say I'm just setting up the groundwork for something in the far future.

MidnightFenrir and Shadow of Darkness 78: If you think this has been good so far, just wait. I plan to go all out for the finale!

Without further adieu, the final Interlude!

* * *

The Legion was now only one short day from Castle Caelin. Tomorrow will be the day of the final battle against Lundgren and his forces. Everyone seemed to be feeling some emotion or two leading up to the final hours.

Lyn was almost too anxious for her own good, wanting to keep on marching, even under the blackness of night just to reach Caelin more quickly. Sain and Kent were quiet after Wallace joined the Legion, but they must've been at wits-end with themselves, fighting their former countrymen that for all other reasons, they were still loyal to. Wil was extremely nervous, given away clearly by his constantly shivering shoulders. Florina was also shivering, but like a leaf in the wind, though she was making her best effort to hide it. Dorcas, calm as always, observed his weapons one last time, making note of any dings or cracks in them. Though his mouth did twitch once or twice. Erk didn't seem to mind the conclusion drawing near, but he had a far-off look in his eyes the entire night. Serra was anxious as well, though she only wanted to get this ordeal over with so she could continue on her own journey. Rath was apathetic to the entire situation. It seemed that as long as he had a target for his arrows, he wouldn't have a single worry. Matthew was just sitting glumly in a corner, knowing full well that there would be no opportunities to plunder treasure during the battle. Ninian and Nils were shivering in their place next to the fire, not out of the cold, but out of fear. They said that only immense danger awaited them in Caelin. Lucius was praying, both for the souls of people that would die and for everyone that had died so far in this conflict. He didn't seemed particularly bothered by the fact he may die tomorrow. And Wallace just kept his gaze forward towards Castle Caelin the entire march. He had promised Eagler he would protect this land. And protect it he shall.

Since they would not have any time to prepare their strategy ahead of time, Michael spent an hour explaining to everyone their role in the battle once they made it to Caelin. Everyone was to form three groups. Each group would splinter off from everyone else and take to the streets of the city in thirds. One group would take the winding roads of the houses that made up the northern end of the eastern side of the city, while on group made their way directly through the middle to the heart of the city where the castle resided, leaving the last group to take the southern half. The group taking the middle path would encounter the most resistance out of all three groups, so that group would naturally consist of the most people.

The groups were formed as such: Group one consisted of Rath, Kent, Sain, and Lucius. Group two consisted of Lyn, Wallace, Wil, Florina, Matthew, and Serra. Group three consisted of Michael, Dorcas, and Erk. The enemy would be as best equipped as their treasury could afford. As such the Legion was not only at a numeric disadvantage but at a resource disadvantage as well. However, nothing was as bad as it seemed. It was time for the silver and steel weapons that merchant in the mountain town gave to the group when they saved the town to be put to use. All their resources would be put to use in this final battle. The weapons were passed around to whomever needed them most and the spare vulnerary bought in Bulgar were rationed to everyone, each person having enough medicine on them to have three gulps. Not a lot, but better than nothing.

Once the briefing was over, there was nothing more for anyone to do besides either resting or performing maintenance on their weapons. Kent and Sain broke away from the rest of the group and were looking towards the night sky. Intrigued by this, Michael went over to talk with them.

"It's not often you two are both away from the camp" Michael told them as he walked over.

"No, it's not" Kent agreed absentmindedly as he continued to look at the stars.

"I expect this kind of thing from Kent," Sain began as if trying to tell a joke he had no desire to start, "But for me to be brooding is something I never thought I would do!"

"And what are you brooding over, exactly?" Michael asked.

"Something that has plagued my mind for quite a while now" Kent replied, still being vague.

"Could you care to elaborate?" Michael asked him again.

"He-we are concerned with the battle tomorrow," Sain explained to him, "We'll be fighting men we've trained with for years. Men we grew up with."

"Men that bled alongside us as we went through General Wallace and Eagler's training." Kent finished for him.

Michael nodded to himself, "Truth be told, I'm glad you both are troubled by this."

"Why is that?" Sain asked.

"This proves that the constant fighting hasn't changed you," Michael explained, "You still have your humanity."

"I wish I didn't have so much humanity, given the current situation" Kent replied.

"Their minds have been poisoned by Lundgren," Sain said, "They believe we are traitors to our oaths. That we have gone astray. We must prove them wrong by uniting Lady Lyndis with the marquess."

"Your oath?" Michael inquired, "What were your oaths?"

"That we would protect the common people," Kent began to tell him, "That our resolution to protect our homes would never waver. That we should sacrifice ourselves for the better of the country if need be. That we would preserve the truth and justice that exists in this word."

"From my point of view you aren't," Michael told them sincerely, "While the others are clouded in mist, their vision obscured from the truth, you two are fighting to bring about a clear tomorrow. To stop a usurper and reconnect family ties cut off long ago."

"But what of the brothers we have?" Kent asked him, "What of them? Must we cut them all down to realize the truth?! Even against the battle with Commander Yogi, there were men within his ranks that we both knew!"

"Knowing that they are being lied to, how can we possibly meet their blades with our own?" Sain asked, "How can we fight people we know when they are none the wiser to the situation at hand?"

"You don't" Michael told them as if it was obvious.

"You make light of such a situation?!" Kent asked as her temper flared, "Do you propose we just sit down and let them deliver judgment?"

"Easy there, Kent" Sain told him as he grabbed his shoulder.

"Not at all," Michael continued, "When your weapons fail you, when your resolve is at its lowest, let your words speak for you. Draw upon and hope that the bonds you have with those men can let them see sense."

"And if they don't?" Kent asked again.

"Then you did all that you could" Michael told him as he looked back up at the stars.

There was a silence between the three as they let Michael's words sink in. It was Sain that broke the silence, "Funny. It took a little longer than expected, but we finally made that lie from before a reality."

"What lie?" Kent asked him, dreading the answer.

"The stargazing lie we told Lady Lyn when we all stayed at that inn!" Sain reminded them.

"That's right!" Michael yelled as he remembered, "That almost turned out badly…"

"But the stars ARE quite beautiful" Kent commented.

"Indeed they are," Sain agreed, "But these are the stars of our home. Of course they would be. They are showering their brilliance down upon us to wish us luck for tomorrow."

"You should be a bard, Sain" Michael told him as a compliment.

"Sain the Bard," Sain mused, "I'd bring the ladies to their knees with my beautiful ballads. I like the sound of that!"

Back at the camp, everyone had turned their attention to the two knights and their tactician as they had been yelling loudly for longer than anyone could reasonably ignore. Lyn's eyes were misted over in thought as she stared into the fire.

"What do you know," Erk said dully, "More male bonding?"

"Not bonding," Wallace grunted, "Just two men sharing their troubles with another. The only kind of bonding is over ale and tails of your exploits while showing off your battle scars."

"There's has to be more to bonding than just that…" Florina said as she shook her head.

"If there is little lady," Wallace addressed her, "Then I haven't experienced it in a long time."

"I think it's nice," Ninian spoke up, "Michael tries to get closer to everyone. He taking other's troubles onto himself."

"Yeah!" Nils agreed, "He did that for us! Why not for them?"

"Not everyone" Rath told them, he himself being one of the only people Michael never socialized with, though he knew the reason why.

"I'd say you sound disappointed if I didn't know you any better" Wil pointed out.

"Nonsense" Rath told him as he walked to his tent to retire for tonight.

"Jealousy breeds contempt for your fellow man if left to simmer for so long!" Lucius reminded Rath.

"Serra," Matthew asked as he tapped the cleric's shoulder, "Why are you looking at your staff so closely?"

"Huh?" Serra asked absentmindedly, "Oh! Just looking at the crack in it. It's always hard to tell how much longer these things can last…"

"Don't worry about it so much," Erk told her, "Once it breaks you can use your voice to fight alongside us! Remember; anyone hearing you screech for more than five minutes will run for the hills."

"Yeah…" Serra agreed, still looking at her staff.

Meanwhile, Lyn remained silent as she continued to stare into the fire, as if drawn to the flames as if they were trying to tell her something.

"Lyn?" Florina asked as she touched her shoulder, breaking Lyn from her reverie, "Is something wrong?"

"Huh…?" Lyn asked as she looked to Florina's direction, "Oh, nothing much. Just…thinking about tomorrow. I can't help but shake the feeling something bad is going to happen."

"We'll be okay!" Florina told her in an attempt to cheer her up, "We always are. Michael has led us through every obstacle in our way. Tomorrow will prove no different."

"Yeah" Lyn told her as she looked back into the fire.


	21. Chapter 10A: Opposing blades

Finale: Opposing Blades

**Author's Notes: **Here is is! The first part to the conclusion of Lyn's story! The action may begin now, but it doesn't reach to its full glory until part two. But with any ending to any story, can the heroes all make it out alive?

* * *

The sounds of feet marching in the streets filled Caelin as the city was splintered off into districts by the army. Five men to cover this street. Ten men to hold a plaza. Never before had Caelin's army been in such a state of emergency. Two of their most fearsome and top generals were no longer at their disposal. One, General Wallace, a walking legend among the foot soldiers, had turned traitor and joined the false heir of the throne's bid for power. General Eagler, the man who most soldiers were personally trained by had been killed by one of his dearest friends, the very man they regarded as a legend. Commanders who had made their names on the battlefield in conditions sorely against them that had lived to fight another day were being killed left and right like flies by an enemy that was all but invincible. The perpetrator of such atrocities? The false heir known as Lyndis and her Legion. Public enemy number one. With the news that the marquess had fallen ill, this girl of unimportant origins had engineered a plot to place herself on the throne, gaining allies through her silver tongue and false promises. The army as a collective whole would be the ones to finally end this madwoman's schemes.

"How fare's the mobilizing of the men?" Lundgren asked one of his advisors as he gazed out of the balcony of the third floor of the castle.

Lundgren was a man who only knew how to take whatever he wanted regardless of whether or not he was fit for it. His grey hair ran down past his shoulders and his small grey eyes only showed greed and desire. His chin protruded from the rest of his head, his many wrinkles marring what may have once been an attractive face. He wore purple robes with gold embroidery only reserved for nobility, while a white cap was tied around his shoulders. He carried his custom solver lance on his person, which was enchanted by almost every mage that Caelin had to offer. His armor was still being enchanted as they spoke.

"Sire!" An advisor saluted as he began to give a report, "The last few groups are forming in their positions! We have around one hundred men gathered and stationed within the city!"

"Only one hundred?!" Lundgren yelled, "How many of those fools are taking their sweet time wallowing in the fields when they should be marching back to the capital?! Do they not know of the danger presented by that usurper?"

"Sire," The advisor cringed as any others in the room busied themselves in whatever way they could find, "Need I remind you that you sent out many of our numbers attempting to catch this knave while she was still en route to Caelin as well as to neighboring territories? They will….take some time to return."

"And by the time they do, the capital will be set aflame by this madwoman!" Lundgren continued to yell.

"Sire, may I remind you that the houses constructed here are made of stone and mortar? They cannot be set-augh!"

Lundgren ran the advisor through with his silver lance without looking away from the balcony. "Does anyone else present wish to inform me of useless knowledge concerning this city?"

All of the other advisors stuttered out responses that could all be summarized as 'no'.

"I thought not" Lundgren said with a smug smile.

As Lundgren raged at what he thought was a lack of troop presence, Lyndis's Legion was observing the city from one of the only small mountain tops available to them without giving them away to the enemy. Michael was attempting to find a suitable point of entry for the Legion to exploit. He was lying down on the rocks, squinting his eyes to make out the little specks of people lining the streets. Almost every corner was lined with soldiers

"Any good areas we can go in from?" Lyn asked as she sat down next to Michael.

"Not a one," Michael grunted, "What I want to know is how they figured out we would be here already?"

"Word travels fast," Wallace reminded them, "Especially when the walls have ears."

"Are you saying we were being spied upon?" Kent asked.

"Lundgren wouldn't allow me and Eagler to be alone without some insurance," Wallace told them, "He'd want us under control."

"So General Eagler…?" Sain began, "Was forced to fight us!?"

Wallace gave Sain a nod of affirmation.

"All the more reason for Lundgren to be put to the sword" Lyn said.

"Don't bother trying to find a good entry point for us," Wallace warned Michael, "You can be here all day and you won't find anything."

"So you propose that we all just charge in blindly?" Michael asked him, hoping he wouldn't answer the way Michael thought he would.

"Of course!" Wallace yelled, "Any good battle is begun by a good charge! Besides, it leaves the other side in disarray as we attack!"

"Ok, then," Michael agreed, "You can lead the charge down, then."

"Really?" Wallace asked in disbelief, "I can?!"

"Do I ever lie?" Michael asked.

"This is going to be fun!" Wallace yelled as he went to mobilize everyone.

"Are you really ok with letting him do this?" Lyn asked as Michael stood up.

"When you have a moving wall of impenetrable steel at your disposal?" Michael asked with a smile, "Of course! Besides, there really isn't much more of an option."

"I just hope you know what you're doing" Lyn sighed with a wary tone.

"Of course I do!" Michael assured her, "Even when I don't, I do!"

During the preparations for the 'climatic charge' as Wallace put it, the Legion assumed their group formations ahead of time so they could easily separate and begin battling through their own delegated paths. Forming the frontal assault of the charge, stood Lyn's group, with Wallace spearheading the charge. In the rear formation of the group was Kent's group, since their objective was the farthest from the others and they had the most mobility. In the center of the formation was Michael's group. Being made of only three people, they would be exposed to a little of the fighting s possible before breaking off from the rest.

"Now here's how this whole thing is going to operate!" Wallace explained as he continued to yell, unfortunately for some, right in their ears, "When we charge; we all yell! When they hear the thunder of our feet against the ground and the rage in our voices, they'll all piss themselves as they scream and run home to mommy!"

"General Wallace, if I may," Kent interjected, "Won't that just give way to our position and make it all the more difficult for us to fight throughout the city?"

"Kent!" Sain yelled as him in a whisper, "Remember that this is General Wallace we're talking about!"

Wallace let out a large laugh as Kent spoke, "Ah, Kent! Ever the one for words of sense! Nut you see here, most of these peons can't hold a quill much less a sword! Remember that I am one of the men who trained all of these soldiers!"

"If Michael is allowing Wallace to command the charge," Lyn told Kent, "Then there should be no need to worry."

"Besides, if anyone is fool enough to get in my way, I'll just send them flying!" Wallace laughed.

"What about us?" Nils asked as he grabbed hold of Ninian's hand for support.

"The both of you will come down once the fighting has stopped," Michael explained to him. "Once we've all moved out, you can hide somewhere in the city where no can find you."

"But if we're hiding while everyone else is fighting," Ninian began, "How can we tell you if danger is near?"

"This is the final battle," Michael answered her, "Danger is around every corner and behind every shadow. This battle is one where no one's guard will be down."

"We'll win like always and then we'll have a rousing celebration!" Lyn told her with a smile, her bravado invigorating the Legion.

"Alright…" Ninian relented, "Please, everyone…stay safe."

"Lady Ninian!" Sain sang as he took her hand, "I swear by my honor as a knight that I will not allow any of my comrades to come in harm's way! I shall become the greatest shield in all the land!"

"Get into position" Kent ordered as he lightly slapped Sain over the head.

"This might be a stupid idea…" Erk mentioned as Sain went back to his position, "But wouldn't charging down a mountain, while being guarded by horses at the flank be a BAD thing?"

"Not with Wallace leading the charge!" Wallace yelled at him, "By the time I'm done with this mountain, it'll be a hill!"

"He's not joking" Sain reminded Erk.

"We COULD just use the path right in front of us" Dorcas suggested as he pointed a finger down.

At his pointing, both Michael and Wallace looked down to find a trading route carved into the mountainside.

"How did I miss that?!" Michael asked himself aloud as he slapped his forehead.

"There goes the fun in charging…" Wallace sighed as he slumped forward in disappointment.

So, with Wallace slightly disappointed in the cancellation of a climatic charge to what would no doubt be a terrific battle to the death, the Legion descended the mountain calmly and slowly, until they were able to better conceal themselves in the local flora. In what could only be explained as a bizarre miracle, the Legion was not spotted once while traversing the mountain. Not a simple task considering Wallace was amongst their numbers and he was not the most adept at keeping a low-profile, with his suite of armor that clinked and clanked as he walked.

Once behind sufficient cover, Michael was able to gain a better view of the layout of the city and how many soldiers were stationed at their entry point. From what could be assumed, the entire city was protected by high stone walls, with only a few gateways as entrances and exits. All of the gateways were opened, as if beckoning the Legion to invade. Lundgren must've ordered them open as to later entrap them once they were sufficiently blocked in with fighting soldiers. Along each path that followed every passageways were houses and stores while most of each street was set aside for roads both for people and animals to traverse. Soldiers were marching through the streets, occasionally stopping to begin a nervous chat or were patrolling the area.

Taking a deep breath to focus himself, Michael turned towards the rest of the Legion, "Everyone, this is it. The battle we've all be striving to fight is finally here."

"Let us make Lundgren know that we have and will conquer any challenges that he throws our way!" Lyn interrupted, "That no matter how outnumbered we are, no matter how ill-equipped, we will transcend those odds and deliver onto him a swift defeat."

With a resigning nod, Michael finished their rallying speech, "Let's compose Lundgren the greatest of requiems!"

With nods of approval from those that felt the need, the Legion began their charge. The soldiers stationed within the gate they entered through turned their attention towards the yelling to see a mass of enemy soldiers running towards them. One soldier that had a trumpet on his person fumbled with undoing the strap as the rest charged to meet the enemy. As the two forces met, the soldier was able to sound off on his trumpet, signaling to the rest of the army that the battle had begun. Any civilians that were still outside before the battle took place suddenly found themselves stuffed into whatever buildings the soldiers forced them into.

One such civilian, a merchant from Bulgar in Caelin for trade negotiations, was forced into the inn where she was temporarily residing. With a huff from being forced into the building, she went to one of the windows and peered outside. She saw soldiers anxiously forming barriers around every corner or running off towards the sound of the trumpet that blew just seconds ago.

"At least today will prove to be eventful…" She sighed to herself as she leaned against the windowsill as she twirled her red locks with her right index finger.

As the Legion charged into the initial number of enemy soldiers, there were only seven, leaving most of the Legion to number them two-to-one. However within the timeframe of two minutes, those numbers had changed to twenty-four. Soon, the Legion found themselves outnumbered two-to-one. But this news was all the better for the Legion. At first, they had been holding back, hoping to injure as little of the enemy as possible, only trying to knock them unconscious. Now, they could use their full might, as well as lessening the number of soldier they would have to engage as they all separate into their groups.

"Michael!" Lyn yelled to him as she passed him the iron sword "Give us some backup!"

"Right!" Michael told her as he caught the familiar blade, Lyn pulling out her steel sword as he answered her.

As Michael provided support to Dorcas and Sain, Michael engaged two of the enemy knights attempting to flank their side. As he engaged the two, he quickly found himself being pinned to defensive stances and dodging as quickly as he could. He felt sluggish with each move he tried to execute as the soldiers either evaded or blocked his strikes. After his defeat of Commander Yogi, which Michael had admitted to himself that was mostly luck that allowed him to win in the fashion he did, he felt as if he could contribute to the group when battles came along. From his current battle with simple enemy soldiers, he suddenly found himself questioning any skill he had. Stealing a glance at Lyn, Michel found that she was also dealing with multiple opponents, Florina covering her flank, who also appeared to be in a small struggle with them, but was showing more progress than him.

In that split second that his concentration slipped from the battle, one of the soldiers attempted to drive his lance through his abdomen. With barely enough time to fully avoid the attack, the lance pierced through Michael cloak and through his shirt, scratching along the side of his hip. Trapped by the lance, the other soldier attempted to perform the coup de grâce, but Dorcas intervened and brought his axe down upon the lance that had Michael pinned, breaking the head off allowing Michael to duck and avoid the last blow. Clutching his side as the small wave of pain ran through him, Michael retreated to the rear, deciding to administer commands and tactics instead of attempting to fight.

"Erk! Wil! Rath! Fall back and provide cover fire to the others!" Michael yelled out as Erk, Wil, and Rath retreated to the Michael's position.

The enemy soldiers seemed to be converging on them more for stalling and tiring them out instead of outright killing them. This tactic had been proven effective when they clashed with Yogi's forces, but this time, there was no archer and ballista to worry about. They also had Wallace with them now, who seemed to be toying with the soldiers that were brave or foolish enough to challenge him in combat.

"Alright you pencil-neck scrubs! Let's see how you all measure up against Wallace!" Wallace taunted the soldiers as they all apprehensively poked their lances in Wallace's direction, making sure to keep as much distance as possible.

"Wallace!" Michael called out to Wallace, "Go wild on them….but don't kill any of them…please?"

"A challenge!" Wallace yelled, "I accept!"

Without pause, Wallace bent down on one knee and preceded to ram headfirst into the group of soldiers. Some were lucky and were able to dive to the side in time for Kent, Sain, Dorcas, or Lyn to knock them unconscious with the hilt of their weapons. However, those unlucky enough to be found in the way of Wallace's charge were either run over or taken by their heads and tossed several feet into the air with comical expressions on their faces as they landed painfully on the ground. Every member of the Legion except for Kent and Sain looked upon the scene with utter dumbfoundment as Wallace cheerfully yelled at the enemy, treating the whole situation as if it was gigantic training exercise that they were all about to fail. In less than a minute after Wallace began his charge, the enemy soldiers were either incapacitated or running away to regroup.

"Well," Wallace sighed with a giggle, "That was fun!"

"With General Wallace amongst us," Sain boasted, "What could possibly go wrong?"

As Sain finished his boast, the gates that allowed the Legion to enter the city closed shut with a mighty slam as the steel bars came crashing down upon the ground.

"You just had to say it, didn't you!?" Michael yelled as he slapped his forehead in anger.

Elsewhere, the guard towers that manned the soldiers responsible for opening and closing the gates were sealed shut with solid concrete, blocking the Legion from being able to enter them, but also trapping the soldiers inside. They were to be sacrificed to keep the Legion corralled like animals.

"They are desperate if they are resorting to damning their own" Kent said aloud as he looked at the results of the army's handiwork.

"Well, we expected this from the start" Lyn reminded everyone as she thought back to the briefing Michael had given them all the night before.

"And we all have to begin our roles in this battle" Michael nodded in agreement.

Without a need for commands, the Legion split into its three groups and separated along the nearby intersection as each group began their missions.

Taking the northern path of the intersection, Lyn's group charged towards the heart of city, where most of the enemy was speculated to be gathered. As the group ran through the streets, they occasionally came across a small group of soldiers that attempted to either fight them outright of flank their position while another small group attempted to distract them. However, Michael's planning combined with Wallace's strength, Matthew's agility, Wil's archery, Florina's mobility, Serra's healing and Lyn's swordplay made them more than an equal match for their mass-produced foes. They were able to render most of their attacker's unconscious, but sometimes, one random but stubborn soldier would refuse to admit defeat, and they were forced to do what had be done.

"This is going extremely well!" Florina noticed with glee as the group finished their fourth battle while on the way to the center of the city.

"It's like these guy aren't even trying!" Wallace agreed.

"Maybe it's because you're here…" Matthew muttered softly to himself.

"You'd expect better from trained soldiers," Serra mentioned, "I haven't needed to heal any of you because you've all been avoiding injury. Not that I'm complaining, mind!"

"I'm sure there will be plenty of a challenge awaiting us when we meet the bulk of the forces in the heart of the city!" Lyn assured everyone.

"As long as we don't end up biting off more than we can chew, we'll be fine" Wil said with a smile.

"I just want to get rid of all the fodder as soon as possible so I can get my shot at Lundgren already!" Wallace shouted in anxiousness as he began to run ahead of the group.

The rest of the way forward was empty of enemies. Whatever the reason, the group was sure that they were in for the fight of their lives at the center of the city. They didn't have Michael to think up new tactics if things began to take a turn for the worst, so working together and maintaining a constant grasp of the situation would be key in making it out without unnecessary sacrifices. Then the group made it to the center of Caelin, the quickest path to the castle was blocked by dozens of soldiers. The soldiers had grim looks on their faces from what could be seem from their helmets. They were ready to die before they let Lyn's group through.

"How many guys do you think there are?" Wil asked, his smile fading as he registered the number of enemies.

"A lot" Serra pointed out helpfully.

"…Pegasus run?" Florina asked Wil uncertainly.

"Do we have a choice?" Wil asked her as he sighed.

"That always worked for us before" Lyn pointed out.

Before Wil and Florina could come to a final decision, the enemy began to rush them in a giant wave. As the group flinched at the sudden charge, Wallace let out a horrible battle cry as he rushed headlong into the fray. Soon following suit, Lyn charged into the wave of enemies as well, her steel sword shining in the sun as she disappeared in the ocean of enemies. Matthew had already disappeared, having most likely shadowed Wallace or Lyn, leaving only Florina, Wil, and Serra by themselves as some enemies broke off from the main body and made their way to them. Quickly grabbing Serra by her shoulder, Florina dragged her onto Huey and took to the skies before beginning to dive at the enemy, her steel lance eager to see combat, leaving Wil alone to provide support for them. At first, with Wallace amongst them, the enemy numbers began to fall within seconds, but after a minute into the battle, at the very first opportunity, Wallace took the nearest path to the castle and ran from the rest of the group.

"Wallace!" Lyn called out to him, partly out of anger as she broke her concentration from a soldier she was fighting. Luckily, Wil was there with his trusty bow and arrow to save her from being stabbed through the gut from her lapse of concentration.

"Forget about him!" Matthew called out from behind her as he stabbed a soldier in the chest, leaving him collapsed on the ground, "Fight the guys trying to shish kabob us first!"

Lyn nodded at his wise council as she gave out orders, "Everyone! Group up and don't break away from each other! We won't get past the rest of them if we're too spread out to help each other!"

"We're in for the long haul!" Wil yelled as Florina landed next to him, crushing a soldier that was sneaking up behind him at the same time.

"Let's show them what we're all made of!" Serra said as a battle cry.

As Lyn's group was fighting a terrible battle with the bulk of the Caelin forces, Kent's group was busy traveling through the more populated section of the city in the north. Michael had estimated that since this area was the most populated of the city, that a good portion of the soldiers, if not guarding the center of the city, since all roads led there, would be protecting civilians from attack. After all, soldiers weren't always soldiers, they had families and friends. If enough hostages were taken, the army would collapse to those who were loyal to country and those who were loyal to family and friend. Of course, there would be no hostages, but the army didn't know that.

Kent must have had an agonizing look on his face as they rode on because Sain felt the need to start speaking, "We'll do what we can to spare as many of our brothers from fighting as possible, but we will do what we must in the end."

"What makes you say that?" Kent asked him.

"You've been like this for some time," Sain reminded him, "Even Michael spoke to us about this concern already. As tactician, he knows that words have a greater affect than any sword."

"The best solutions are often the most difficult for both parties to accept," Lucius told them, "But in the end, it is the most beneficial to both."

"In the plains," Rath began, "Tribes often only went to war when a dispute could not be settled with just words. And regardless of the victor if it came to that, both sides attended the funerals of the fallen. No matter which side they were on, the people and leaders were sad that it had to come to shedding the blood of their children."

"That doesn't bode well" Sain mentioned to him.

"Sorry," Rath apologized, "I'm not one for words. What I'm trying to say is if the people you trust so readily can see even the smallest amount of reason, then there will be no conflict between us. But just because there is, doesn't mean there won't be."

"Then let us hope that negotiation is an option" Kent said grimly as they continued to ride.

The area was deathly quiet as they continued to ride. With each plaza or street passed, the tension that the four felt increased, cutting them like a sword fresh from the fires of a forge. Could Michael have been wrong? Did the enemy concentrate their forces elsewhere? If so, any of the other groups could have been destroyed by now. No. Thoughts such as those would kill moral and lower effectiveness in battle. There could be none of those thoughts.

Before Kent could give the order to forgo their route and begin to head for the center of the city, a roadblock of a little over a dozen soldiers appeared before them. The soldiers did not attack them as they came into view, but a few archers trained their arrows upon them. Stopping their horses, Kent gave the order to dismount. They would be only bigger targets on their horses and if they were shot out from under them, they could all be crushed under their weight. Opting to walk, the four made their way to the soldiers, one walking out from among the group to meet them.

"Halt" The soldier commanded with a firm tone, his voice was deep and full.

"I'm afraid I didn't hear a 'please'" Sain told responded.

"Now isn't the time for jokes, traitor" The soldier responded with an icy tone.

"Collin?" Kent called out to the soldier, "Is that you?"

"I don't remember giving my name to traitorous swine like yourselves" The solider told Kent.

"I believe that being a traitor has no relevance to answering one who has inquired to your name" Lucius told the solider.

"I'd advise you watch your tone, monk," The soldiers warned him, "A man of peace does not belong on the battlefield. Do you find such ambiguity as to twist your religion to suite your goal?"

"That biting tone, that razor wit. Definitely Collin" Sain confirmed.

"Do you not recognize us?!" Kent yelled, "We were all in training together! We all ate from the same dish as we were broken and reformed to serve Caelin!"

"A purpose that you both chose to betray," Collin responded, his tone still icy and disgusted, "The fact that you two even have the gall to show yourselves after killing General Eagler sickens the lot of us."

"We did not kill anyone that Lundgren decided to toss into the wind in hopes of keeping what isn't his!" Sain yelled at him in fury, "We would never kill the General! Do you believe the lies you have been fed with those silver spoons?!"

"ENOUGH!" Collin yelled, "I have said what all of us wanted to be said, now raise your weapons and submit yourselves to the deaths that are too merciful for ones such as you!"

The soldiers raised their lances and swords into the sky as the archers began to shoot their arrows. A scowl appeared on Kent's face as he pulled out his silver sword and engaged the first of the soldiers. Sain took out his lance and clashed with two sword wielders at once. Lucius and Rath stood behind the two, attempting to defeat the archers without causing fatal damage.

"We will not lose!" Collin cried, "For General Eagler!"

Elsewhere, at the southern section of the city, Michael, Dorcas, and Erk had been running for some time with extremely limited enemy engagement. They had only met enough soldiers to be counted on a single hand. Never more than one or two grouped together. It seemed that the southern section of the city, being mostly attractions and landmarks were left completely unguarded. This was both a blessing for the group, who had the least amount numerically, but was also a curse, as that only meant that the other groups would face more resistance.

"I don't like the looks of this…" Michael muttered to himself as they ran past their fourth street without meeting any enemies.

"It's like they're inviting us in…"Erk mentioned, "Almost as if we're not a threat…"

"They'll soon learn how wrong they are!" Dorcas told them confidently as he brandished his axe, his hammer swinging violently at his side.

"We'll be the ones to entertain Lundgren, then!" Michael reasoned, "It seems Lyn won't be getting the final blow again this time either."

"Three versus one…An easy victory" Erk agreed.

"This'll be a story for the people back at the village" Dorcas said in amusement as he chuckled to himself.

As the three continued to run, each responding to the other with quips to psych themselves up, the scenery began to change. What sued to be buildings and statues soon turned to lush green grass and an enormous paved walkway lined with statues as the caste came more clearly into view. As the three ran to the castle, Dorcas bashed the gates wide open with his axe, never slowing down. The three made it the entrance where they found a giant to rival even Wallace in size guarding the door.

Encased in deep purple armor as thick as Wallace's with a silver lance held in his left hand at his side, Lundgren loomed upon them.

"Hello there," Lundgren greeted them with a smile as if addressing ants through his helmet, "You are the first ones to make it here. I hope you'll prove to be an entertaining distraction before the main event begins…"


	22. Chapter 10B: In Death, Sacrifice

Chapter 10B: In Death, Sacrifice

* * *

"Did NOT know they made armor for men your size" Michael told him for a greeting.

"How clever," Lundgren told him in mock hospitality, "I'll enjoy crushing you beneath my boot."

"You'll have get through me first!" Dorcas threatened him as he walked in front of Michael.

"Meanwhile I'll be over here, doing mage things…" Erk said nonchalantly as he took a few steps back.

"Since you are the 'guests' of this lovely castle, I believe manners dictate you have the first move" Lundgren said to the three as he took a long bored yawn into his hand.

"With pleasure!" Dorcas told him as he rushed forward.

Using the momentum from his run, Dorcas jumped into the air and brought his axe down towards Lundgren's neck with alarming speed. However, in the blink of an eye, Lundgren raised his right hand and caught Dorcas's axe with two of his fingers. Bewildered, Dorcas froze in shock as his feet hit the ground.

"Cute" Lundgren said with an evil smile as he gently pushed the axe away before punching Dorcas in the stomach, making him sink to the ground in pain. As Dorcas recoiled in pain, Michael ran forward, his iron sword aimed for the little bit of Lundgren's face left visible from his helmet. However, Lundgren lazily raised his silver lance and blocked his attack, sending the full force from Michel's attack back into his body, temporarily numbing his arms. His hands shaking, Michael dropped his sword before Lundgren kicked him out of the way with the bottom of his boot. In the distance, Erk chanted the most powerful fire spell he could muster, his book turning into the familiar ball of flames as he shot it at Lundgren, carefully aiming it so it wouldn't hit his allies. With a smug smile, Lundgren raised his right arm to cover his face as the flame made contact with his armor. The flames quickly began to consume him as Michael and Dorcas picked up their weapons and retreated.

"Not as hard as I thought…" Dorcas coughed as he caught his breath.

"I'll be beaten by an armored knight once, but not twice!" Erk told them as a victory cry.

"He went down surprisingly quickly for one who acted so smugly" Michael noted as he wiped away some blood running down his nose from where Lundgren had kicked him.

"I could say the same of you three" Lundgren spoke up as the flames burning on his armor dissipated.

A wave of shock went through the three warriors as Lundgren emerged from the flames completely unscathed. Upon seeing their expressions, Lundgren laughed at their horror. "With faces like those, it makes playing along with the charade of letting you fight all the more worthwhile!"

No damage had been done to him, his reflexes were too fast for them to keep up with, and he had only been toying with them for the short while that they had fought, and even then, the three of them were outmatched. This mistake went above mere miscalculation, this was full blown stupidity. In a nation devoid of healers, having generals like Wallace who were encased in impregnable armor, or ones such as Eagler, who possessed extreme speed were highly valued.

"H-how did…?" Erk asked in shock, the words dying in his mouth.

"But, alas, I already grow bored of your useless antics. Come, let us be done with this…" Lundgren sighed again.

Lundgren raised his lance and prepared to charge at the three, but then, a rumbling caught all of their attention as Wallace came sprinting to their location. With a mighty vertical swing of his axe, Wallace came down upon Lundgren like Death upon a battlefield. Sidestepping out of the way, Lundgren raised his lance to block the blow if his dodge should fail, their weapons meeting in a loud clash as the force from the impact pushed them both away.

"I hope I'm not late for the party!" Wallace shouted in glee as he put himself in-between the three and Lundgren.

As a great battle was about to begin, Kent's group was in a rough position. Collin had given the order for the enemy to charge at their numbers. The archers were the first to begin the onslaught, letting their arrows fly into the air, raining down upon them. One had found its mark in Lucius's right shoulder, his ability to cast his light magic would suffer because of it. Rath, wasting no time, had begun to fire his own arrows as the archers, attempting to only aim for their arms, but some found home in their chests instead. As the infantry charged at Kent and Sain, they were both forced to draw their weapons and fight for all they were worth. Putting their backs to each other, they clashed with their former allies.

One soldier charged at Sain with his lance, but Kent pulled him out of the way by his shoulder and snapped the spear head off the lance with a flick of his sword, but another soldier came at his from behind with his sword ready to stab him in the neck, but Sain managed to veer it off course when he stabbed the soldier in the arm with his lance. Lucius was muttering an incantation as he used his good arm to dig his vulnerary out of his robes, letting out some hastily made spears of light to separate the large group of enemies that were attacking them all at once. Rath, in order to conserve his arrow supply, forcefully removed the one from Lucius's shoulder and sued it instead of his own. However, the tip was fragile and brittle from digging into Lucius's flesh, so the air resistance it gained took it completely off course, crashing into a nearby window spraying glass everywhere.

"Submit!" Collin roared as he looked off at the scene of violence.

"And let those who trust us be overwhelmed?!" Sain responded as he smacked a solider into another with the side of his lance, "Never!"

"We will not fail!" Kent cried as he dueled two soldiers at once with his silver sword.

"May Elimine favor those on the righteous path!" Lucius called out as he finally grabbed hold of his vulnerary and took a sip from it, his wound beginning to close.

"As a warrior of the Sacae Plaines," Rath announced, "I will not lose."

The soldiers continued to press the group further back, their numbers overpowering them even though the four were more skilled than them. As long as they had the numerical advantage, Kent's group would never be able to win.

A soldier charged into Kent, his sword held high as Kent was battling another, his sword piercing into Kent's side. As Kent let out a grunt of pain, Sain rushed forward and tackled the one Kent was originally facing as he prepared a death blow as Lucius slammed the one that stabbed Kent with several light spears, piercing his own armor and spearing both of his legs. As Sain recovered from tackling the soldier Kent was fighting, the soldier punched Sain in the face as he tried to regain his balance, which devolved into a brawl as another soldier came and tore Sain off of his comrade, throwing Sain onto the floor as he did. As the soldier readied his lance to strike Sain down, Rath knocked an arrow and pierced through his palm guard. Instantly, the soldier began to retreat behind the line they were holding as he clutched his bleeding hand, his lance forgotten on the ground.

With a great tug, Kent removed the sword stuck in his hip and dug into his pouch, producing a vulnerary. Kent silently blessed Michael for having the forethought to pass them out before the battles began as he took a drink. Sain, while recovering from being thrown aside, quickly grabbed the lance that the soldier had dropped and began to put it to good use keeping some of the enemy at bay. Every now and then another lance wielder would be able to graze him with their weapon as others tried to break through his defense, but Lucius and Rath were able to keep up with giving support to both of the knights. But it was only a matter of time before Rath ran out of arrows and Lucius destroyed him tome from overcasting his light magic.

"Why do you not die?!" Collin yelled at the battlefield as he drew his own sword to enter the fray.

"Because the future of our country demands that we don't!" Kent yelled back as he gripped his sword even tighter as he prepared to charge at Collin.

Elsewhere in the center of the city, Lyn's group was encountering problems. They were all exhausting themselves just to keep the pace with the enemy. For every man they knocked unconscious, two more rose from their ranks, one to retrieve their comrade, and another to fight. Within minutes, whatever enemies they injured were back on their feet, right as rain and fighting fit while Lyn's group just tired themselves out. With each wave of enemies came injuries that Serra was able to heal, but the injuries kept coming in at a fast pace that Serra was beginning to lag behind.

Jumping back to avoid a blow from a sword, Lyn bumped into another soldier that was aiming for Florina as she descended back from the skies to let Serra off. Wil was still shooting at every enemy that came into his vision, but his arrow supply was quickly beginning to dwindle. His quiver, that was full to bursting at the beginning, was now almost empty. He would either have to risk scavenging the battlefield for stray arrows that never found a mark or conserve them, only attacking when necessary. Either option lowered the group's fighting power. If Wallace had not made way through an opening in their numbers to find Lundgren at the first opportunity, they would not be in such a mess. Matthew was trying his best to shadow his way into the rear of their frontlines in hopes of disrupting their supply lines, but there were no openings to exploit when some many enemies were all over the place, covering any blinds spots another had. The game they were playing was steadily rising the odds against them. Lyn didn't like to admit it, but the situation was do-or-die.

"No more non-fatal strikes!" Lyn shouted out her command, "From now on, go in with the intent to kill!"

With renewed ferocity, Lyn, Florina, and Matthew began to aim for the vital points of the enemy. What the soldiers were once able to abuse to keep their numbers from falling form now was no longer viable. Now, the army began to attack with their own sense of renewal. As Lyn stabbed a man through the stomach, three more appeared and surrounded her. As they readied their lances to charge her, Lyn ducked to the ground and charged forward, knocking over one of the soldiers as she hit him on the back of the neck with the butt of her sword. Florina flew into the air, her lance extended as she dived at clusters of the enemy, disorienting them as she stabbed members of the groups while they all ran in different directions to avoid being in her line of fire. Matthew was covering Serra and Wil, who had retreated further into the rear as the army began to push them back.

"This is impossible!" Wil wailed as he sent another of his steadily dwindling supply of arrows skyward.

"Take these!" Matthew told him as he reached into his cloak and produced some small red spheres.

"What are these?" Wil asked.

"Mines," Matthew informed him, "Plant them on the ground and wait for the enemy to walk on them. Then, 'BOOM'!"

"What if one of us steps on them?!" Wil asked him.

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that…" Matthew muttered as he engaged a soldier with as sword with just his dagger. Using her staff as a blunt weapon, Serra snuck behind the soldier as Matthew struggled to hold him off and smacked the back of his head with her staff, crumpling the enemy onto the tile in a heap.

"Thank!" Matthew told her.

Serra smiled as she twirled her staff in her hand, "Staves aren't only meant to heal wounds!"

"I'm going to go plant these mines," Wil informed the both of them, "Make sure Lyn and Florina know before it's too late!"

With nod from the both of them, Wil began to plant mines on the tiles, as Matthew and Serra made their way over to Lyn, clashing with soldiers all the while as they tried to avoid injury. As they got over to Lyn, a soldier with a spear stabbed her in the back, tearing into her robe as she grunted in pain before swinging her blade wildly, slicing into the forearm of the soldier as he dropped his lance in pain, clutching his arm. She had nicks and scratches all over her. Quickly, Serra began to concentrate her staff onto Lyn as the healing magic lofted over her and closed her wounds. The cracks in the staff spread slightly as she did.

"Why are you two here?!" Lyn asked as she crossed blades with another soldier, "Is no one helping Florina?!"

"Florina was fine last time I checked!" Matthew informed her as he saw Florina diving into the enemy once again from the corner of his eye.

"Wil's planting mines around the battlefield!" Serra said in a hurry, "When we send a signal, retreat to out location, but be careful!"

"Mine?!" Lyn repeated with a grunt as he kicked a soldier away, "What are those?!"

"You'll find out soon enough!" Matthew told her as he stabbed a soldier that approached form her rear.

Back with Michael's group, they watched in awe and horror at Wallace and Lundgren's battle as Wallace not only fought harder than he did against Eagler, but Lundgren was matching him blow for blow. With each blow, the two were sent back by the shockwaves they caused as the ground crumpled beneath their feet from the power of their blows, the earth shaking as they continued to fight.

"H-how do people like this exist?!" Michael asked in wonder as he saw the fight unfold.

"I'm shivering…." Erk said in awe as he watched as well.

"And to think," Dorcas told them, "Their not even fighting at their max yet…"

As Dorcas finished speaking, Lundgren's lance and Wallace's axe met in an explosive clash. As their weapons struggled against each other, Wallace balled his fist and attempted to punch Lundgren in the face, but Lundgren leaned back as spun his lance, knocking Wallace's axe aside as he took the opportunity to swipe at his legs. Losing his balance, Wallace fell onto his back, but quickly jumped back up as he sent his chain flying at Lundgren, wrapping around his lance as Wallace attempted to pull it out of his hands. But Lundgren relinquished his grip on his lance as soon as Wallace began to pull with all his might, using the chance to punch away at Wallace's armor as Wallace leaned backwards, almost falling a second time. Taking the chance as Lundgren assaulted him, Wallace brought his axe down with as much might as he could with only one hand and his axe barely scratched his armor. His eyebrow arching in immediate realization that something was wrong, Wallace relinquished his grip on the chain holding Lundgren's lance and retreated several feet, the punches from earlier having no effect in him, but his armor had some slight dents. Silently, Lundgren retrieved his lance, tossing the chain onto a nearby balcony.

"Still relying on tricks such as those, are you Wallace?" Lundgren asked as he tossed the chain.

"It isn't a trick that make you fall for it," Wallace told him, "You just aren't careful enough!"

Lundgren snorted in arrogance as he charged Wallace once again, lance meeting axe as the ground quivered beneath and around them. As the weapons broke contact, Wallace sent his axe forward in a flurry of strikes, none aiming for a spot in particular on Lundgren's person, but all landing blows, Lundgren not finding the need to defend or dodge the assault. Lundgren only smiled in confidence as Wallace continued the attack.

"Why isn't he to do anything?" Michael asked as the shock and awe wore off, his senses now picking up on the fight, "Something's not right…"

Dorcas looked nervously at the hammer at his side as he raised his head back to the battle. It seemed to be an even fight. Dorcas wasn't strong enough to have any effect on Lundgren, but at the very least, he could give Wallace an edge by giving him another weapon more accustomed for battling armored foes. As soon as he made his mind, Dorcas charged forward towards the fray, his hand axe out as he threw it at Lundgren's face.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Erk yelled after him as he charged.

As the hand axe clanged harmlessly off Lundgren's helmet, falling onto the ground, it did however, divert Lundgren's attention. Using this opportunity, Wallace drove his axe right where Lundgren's neck would be, but his armor absorbed the blow, only leaving a scratch where the axe would have sunk into. As Lundgren readied his lance to attack Wallace, Dorcas slammed his axe into Lundgren's armor, which was just as effective as Wallace's attempt, but Lundgren retaliated against Dorcas, taking him by the collar and throwing him into Wallace, staggering him as he caught Dorcas. Wallace dropped his axe as he staggered, falling over onto his backside as Dorcas wrestled with his belt, doing his best to unfasten his hammer.

"This becomes more of a farce by the minute," Lundgren sighed, "Admit defeat, you hard-headed fools!"

"Defeat? I don't know the meaning of the word!" Wallace answered back.

"Then allow me to add that word to your dictionary!" Lundgren bellowed as he spun his lance in his hand.

Blades clashed as Kent and Collin locked themselves in combat. Sain was busy distracting several soldiers as best he could, while taking his fair share of cuts and bruises all the while, Lucius and Rath supporting him as best they could without putting him in harm's way. But Kent couldn't divert his attention to his comrades as he battled Collin. He had been training fiercely since the last time Kent and he had sparred. For every blow they blocked, the other just had another lined up. To make matters worse, soldiers were breaking through Sain's guard and were coming to assist Collin. The group of four wouldn't be able to keep up for much longer with this kind of onslaught. There had to be something done now if everyone was to survive. But neither Kent nor Sain could still raise their weapons and kill their former comrades. There had to be a way to keep the casualties to a minimum!

"Collin!" Kent yelled at Collin as their blades met once again, "I demand a duel upon both of our honor!"

"A duel?!" Collin repeated with a grunt as he pushed Kent's sword away, "A duel with me is not suitable for someone as low as you!"

"Would you deny a challenge directly offered to you from a foe?! Are you so honor less that you would scurry away from such things?!"

"Attack my honor when you have no hopes of victory? A coward's plan!"

"I am no more coward than you are wise!"

"…"

"If you could come to a decision that would be great!" Sain grunted as he soldier a knight in the thigh.

"Men!" Collin cried, "Cease and desist! I must prepare for a duel!"

At Collin's command, the soldiers lowered their weapons as they marched back to their position before the battle began. Meanwhile, Kent and Sain returned to Lucius and Rath's side as they prepared the next step of their plan.

"Kent!" Sain yelled at him in a whisper, "Are you insane?! There is no way that Collin will face you honorable given the charges we have been accused of!"

"He can and will," Kent answered him, "We both know that Collin was one of the most devote of the code. He cried the day he uttered his knightly vows."

"What are the stakes you two are battling with?" Lucius inquired.

"If I win, he will be dead and we shall continue on unopposed" Kent told him.

"But if Kent dies then our lives will most likely be forfeit!" Sain added.

"Then it would be best that you do not lose" Rath instructed.

"I have no plans to lose," Kent assured him, "But I have no plans to win either."

"Does this have anything to do with what Michael spoke about with us last night?" Sain asked.

Kent gave him a nod as he turned away from the group and proceeded to walk back to the battlefield. Carefully, Kent sheathed his sword, making known his intentions to only fight once the duel began. Meeting him most of the way through his walk was Collin, who also had his sword sheathed, though he had a lance at his back.

"To what do you wish from victory?" Collin asked him, his voice still icy and aggressive.

"I wish for the safety of my comrades from further attacks from your men and access to the rest of the city that you are blocking" Kent informed him.

"And if I shall win," Collin told him, "The rest of your band must admit defeat and surrender to our will."

Kent offered his hand so that the two would shake on the agreement. Cautiously, Collin extended his own hand and shook Kent's before quickly letting go and backing away several steps, keeping Kent in his line of sight. Mimicking Collin's example, Kent did the same. Once they were both at a distance, they both drew their weapons. Collin drew his lance while Kent drew his sword. Firmly gripping their weapons, both knights awaited the other to initiate the first blow, but neither way anxious to begin the feud. Three minute went by before Sain shouted out in anxiousness,

"Just run forward and hit each other already!"

Before Kent could fully turn around and chew Sain out, Collin charged at Kent, who barely had enough time to dive to his right before Collin's lance speared the air where Kent used to be. As Kent rose up, Collin kicked at him, hoping to trip him up, but Kent held fast as Collin's boot crashed into his chest. Gripping his sword, Kent swiped at Collin with his sword, leaving a cut on his cheek, but barely drawing blood. Collin jumped back as he wiped the blood off of his check with his thumb, rubbing the red liquid dry as he kept his view locked firmly onto Kent. Charging forward, Kent brought down his blade in a vertical slash as Collin raised his lance to intercept it. Both weapons slid off one another and kept going forward, cutting into their target's shoulder as they past. Quickly withdrawing their weapons from the other, both knights ignored the pain coursing through them as they continued to attack each other mercilessly, each blow only grazing them if they didn't connect with their weapons.

"Will you continue to be clouded by Lundgren's lies?" Kent asked Collin as their weapons locked again.

"There is not a thing you can do that can prove your innocence!" Collin spat at him as he pushed back against Kent more forcefully.

As Kent backed away from Collin's pushing, Collin made a sweep for his legs with his lance, tripping Kent as he quickly reared back to deliver what was meant to be a finishing blow. However, Kent raised his leg up in a swift kick to Collin's helmet, sending him backwards as he recoiled from the blow. Getting up, Kent grabbed Collin by his lance arm and pulled him up for all he was worth, lifting Collin into the air before letting him go and crashing him into the pavement, both dropping their weapons during the action. Still in his daze, Collin rapidly kicked in Kent direction, a few of the kicks meeting Kent's stomach, causing Kent to stagger back as he tried to refrain from regurgitating. Catching his breath desperately, Collin went to reclaim his weapon as he watched Kent kneel down to better regain his bearings. Collin couldn't help but smile to himself.

"Yield! You have no chance of emerging victorious!" Collin told Kent, as he attempted to appear less exhausted than he was, hoping to break Kent's resolve.

"I will not yield until I am dead!" Kent responded as he stood up.

Snarling, Collin charge back at the now sword-less Kent, hoping to end it with this next blow, but Kent was able read the direction of the attack and dived down, avoid Collin's attack and then upper cutting him as he rose back up, smashing Collin's teeth together as he dropped his lance again. Kent then quickly grabbed the lance and threw it into an alleyway. However, while finished the form of the throw, Collin delivered a swift kick to Kent's side, the very same one he had been stabbed in earlier, still not fully healed made new pain to arch through Kent, making him collapse as Collin ran back to where they were before to pick up Kent's sword. Gasping for breath as he raised the sword in triumph, Collin stared down at Kent.

"May Saint Elimine judge your soul accordingly" Collin uttered in respective prayer as he readied to stab Kent in the heart, Kent not responding.

With all of his strength, Collin drove the sword into Kent's heart, but in the last split second, Kent raised his left and hand allowed the blow to penetrate through his palm. Twisting his arm further, making the wound only worse, Kent grabbed firmly onto the blade, his finger bleeding from how tightly he was grasping the blade. Still without a word, Kent balled his right fist and punched Collin for all he was worth, sending the knight falling sideways. Effortlessly, Kent removed the sword from his hand and quickly pointed it at Collin's throat, a mere millimeter from drawing blood.

"What…?" Collin uttered as he saw the blade hovering over him, "Why do you not strike me down?"

"Because," Kent told him, "No good can come from killing a comrade in cold blood."

"Comrade?!" Collin yelled from his pinned position, "You still think us comrades after the treachery you committed?!"

"What treachery did we commit?!" Sain asked aloud to the other soldiers, none of which answered.

"If we truly fell as far as you were told," Kent explained to Collin, "We would have never tried to reason with you. Only our blades would have listened to your pleas as we tried to cut you down. But even now, when I have the final blow within my grasp, I don't deliver it. Why do you think that is, Collin?" Kent removed the blade from Collin's throat as he stepped back.

Slowly, Colin rose back up, massaging his jaw as he kept to himself in thought.

"Do you still believe us traitors?" Sain called out.

"…Your words have truth in them," Collin decided, "If memory serves, whenever we dueled as squires, you would never commit to a finishing blow unless you felt it was needed. Wallace and Eagler always scolded you for that. I'll place my lot that you aren't lying."

"I never lie" Kent pointed out, his left hand numb and covered in blood.

"True," Collin said with a hearty laugh, his icy demeanor changing, "But I believe there was a saying about liars not bleeding half as much as honest men!"

Then Collin walked over to Kent and removed the broken and bent palm guard from Kent's wrist, with a tired laugh from Kent, who flinched as Collin removed the guard, then took out his vulnerary and downed the rest of the healing liquid. Collin mimicking his action, his bruises and bumps disappearing.

"Men!" Collin addressed his soldiers as Sain, Lucius, and Rath walked over to Kent, "For all of us here, Kent and Sain have been comrades for years! However, claims have been made that go against their character that are found holding no ground! Be that as it may, there may be some among you that choose to believe such things! As such, I bare you no ill will. If you choose to believe Lundgren, you may leave and fight with the main force of sixty men in the center of the city! If you don't however, prepare to battle our brothers for the glory of Caelin!"

During Collin's speech, not one man moved from his spot as Collin told whomever was still suspicious of Kent and Sain to leave. In fact, every man breathed a visible sigh of relief as they walked over and either apologized or greeted the two.

"Did you say that the main force was in the center?" Kent asked as Collin walked over.

"Yes. Why do you ask?"

"Lady Lyndis's group is fighting them all by their selves!" Sain announced in horror.

"Do not worry," Collin assured the two, "We shall champion her in your stead as you go take care of Lundgren. Though I may need some additional forces for the men we lost…"

"We shall aid you" Lucius volunteered as he and Rath stepped forward.

"Then we must make haste" Sain said as he began to walk back to their horses with Kent.

"One more thing!" Collin spoke up as they walked away, "Make sure to stab Lundgren once for me."

"You have my solemn oath!" Both knights promised as they walked away.

Back in the center of the city, Lyn's group was almost on their final legs. Wil had just about depleted his supply of arrows, though he had finished placing the mines down in hard to spot locations as he stayed within their general vicinity. If all went well this would even the odds a little more in the group's favor. Slowly, Lyn and Matthew withdrew closer to Wil as Serra rode on Huey with Florina, showering them with her staff's magic when they felt their wounds becoming too much for them to burden.

Lyn was locked in combat with two sword wielders, each one almost as fast as her given her fatigued state. Ducking down, she avoided being sliced in two as they both performed a horizontal slash from both directions. As soon as they had struck, Lyn grabbed both of their hands and pulled them downward, sending them off balance as hit both of them with the butt of her sword. However, before she could put in enough force to render them unconscious, more soldiers took up their plight, coming at Lyn with murderous intent. While both tired and breathing haggardly trying to catch her breath, Lyn jumped back in order to create some distance between her and the oncoming enemies, but she was too weak and her jumped barely managed to give her a foot of space. However, as the soldiers took up their lances, Florina swooped down from the skies and plowed into them with Huey, sending the soldiers back several feet.

"Lyn!" Florina cried as she extended her hand, "Come on!"

Not waiting for another invitation, Lyn wearily grabbed Florina's hand as she pulled her onto Huey and they took off in the air once more. As they flew into position to where Wil had set up the mines, Matthew was seen running back towards Wil, a dozen enemies behind him.

"It feels like their never-ending…" Lyn sighed

"That's because you just keep knocking them out!" Serra told her, "If you killed them, it wouldn't be as much of a problem."

Lyn shook her head, "These men are being lied to. It doesn't feel right to kill them."

"I don't like the killing either…" Florina agreed, "But if I have to do it in order to help you, I will."

As Huey came to a landing on the other side of the mines, Wil let his arms fall in false resignation as the fatigue overtook him.

"Looks like this is it…" Matthew said grimly as he began to act.

"I'm not going down without a fight!" Lyn announced as she firmly grabbed onto her sword.

The army approached the tired group fully expecting them to be at the end of their blades by the minute's end, however, as the first line of men ran into the range of the mines, their steps set them off, enveloping the short area of their activation range in smoke and flame. Since the army had been keeping a tight formation, many more men than necessary were caught in the blast. By the time the smoke cleared away, there were over two dozen men either dead or severely burned littering the ground. It would take more than a mere vulnerary to heal those kinds of wounds.

"Hook, line, and sinker!" Matthew laughed as the remains of the trap were revealed to everyone.

"So that's what mines are…" Lyn said in awe as she surveyed the damage.

Of course, though it did stop the initial wave of soldiers from overwhelming them, the rest of the army was still a threat, even if they were down almost half their numbers. As the fear that made the army retreat from the mines wore off, the courage of the soldiers resurfaced as they marched towards the group again. Only this time, the group had no surprises to spring and they were all too physically drained to put up much more of a fight. However, not allowing themselves to lie down and die like dogs, they all raised their weapons and braced themselves for what would be their final moments. As the army drew near, Lyn gave one last deep breath before throwing herself back into the fray, only for the noise of yelling to fill the air.

As both sides stopped to ascertain where the yelling was coming from, the soldiers that were guarding the northern section of the city appeared from one of the streets. The army, fully expecting their allies to merge within their numbers stopped in their tracks as they came closer. But only after tearing through a few men did they realize that they had turned traitor in favor of Lyn's group. Within the group were Lucius and Rath. Why weren't they will Kent and Sain? Mouths agape, Lyn, along with everyone else found it hard to resister in their minds what had just happened. They were so shocked that they didn't even see a soldier outfitted much like Kent or Sain approach them until he spoke up.

"I take it you are Lyndis?" The soldier asked.

"Yes," Lyn responded on reflex, "Who might be addressing me?"

"My name is Collin, your majesty" The soldier introduced himself.

"Why are you here…attacking your allies?" Florina asked with a wary glare.

"Kent and Sain send their regards," Collin explained, "They also apologize for not being here right now. They are riding forward to face Lundgren."

"They just left us?!" Serra screamed.

"We will not allow any of you to come to harm," Collin continued, "So please, rest while we do our share of the fighting. We aren't tired out much from our confrontation with your loyal knights."

As he finished speaking, Collin ran back into the battlefield to assist his men. Her hands and legs shaking, Lyn slowly lowered herself onto the ground, tears or relief streaming down her face. Reinforcements. They had arrived! Michael's words to Kent and Sain held truth after all. Following her example, the others collapsed into tired wrecks as well. Watching the battle continue in front of them, the army that they had been struggling against seemed to be barely holing themselves up against Collin's company. However, the army still had a numerical advantage and Lyn was not doubting that they would find themselves fighting again soon. They would have to make the most of their rest while they could.

"Florina? Serra?" Lyn asked the both of them.

"Yes?" Florina asked.

"I'm here" Serra told her.

"Go help the others" Lyn ordered them.

"What?" Florina gasped.

"They'll need more help with the healing than us" Lyn told her.

"Royalty," Serra huffed, "You can't argue with them…"

"Get going" Lyn commanded as Florina gave Serra her hand and hoisted her onto Huey.

Wallace took Dorcas by the end of his shirt and threw him out of the way as the butt of Lundgren's lance sailed right into his stomach, bouncing harmlessly off his armor, causing Lundgren to stumble from the distribution of force from his attack. Still fiddling with his belt, Dorcas finally undid the strap keeping his hammer to his side and threw it to Wallace.

"Take this!" Dorcas called out to him.

Not taking his eyes off Lundgren, Wallace caught the hammer with his hand, his smile growing wider as he realized what he had just been thrown.

"You win round one," Wallace told him, "But let's see how you do in round two!"

Letting out a huge battle yell, Wallace charged at Lundgren with renewed passion, his hammer aimed for Lundgren's face. However, Lundgren intercepted the hammer with his lance, blocking it and stopping the attack cold. As the two struggled to see which weapon would give way first, Lundgren reached for Wallace's silver axe, carefully gripping it with his right hand as he quickly began to slash at Wallace with it. Knowing the danger the axe could have for him, Wallace relinquished part in their struggle and dodged out of the way. Now it was Lundgren's turn to charge as he began to swing both weapons wildly, hoping to confuse Wallace as he aimed for his head with his lance. Not allowing fear to grip him, Wallace headed straight into the frenzy of attacks, by some miracle catching the axe with his teeth. Stubbornly, he would not let go as he prepare to swing the hammer, Lundgren letting go of the axe as she jumped back out of danger.

"Last time I checked, I wasn't playing fetch with a dog" Lundgren said tauntingly to Wallace.

Removing the axe from his teeth, Wallace just laughed at him, "Last time I checked, dogs never liked you! Guess it has something to do with your smell…"

Scowling, Lundgren charged at Wallace again, this time with a blinding speed as he rammed his lance through the armor of Wallace's right shoulder. In shock at the sudden sensation of pain, Wallace lashed out at Lundgren in reflex with his axe, but Lundgren grabbed the handle with his free hand and pushed the axe back as he twisted the lance, a sick smile on his face as he agitated Wallace's wound, making it worse. In a fit of rage, Wallace head-butted Lundgren, forcing the sadistic man to stagger backwards as Wallace took a brief moment to examine his wound, shocked that his armor could be penetrated so easily.

"You sly fox!" Wallace told Lundgren, "You had your lance enchanted!"

"Maybe," Lundgren told him mysteriously as he smiled, "Or maybe you're just that weak compared to me."

"We'll see who's weaker than who!" Wallace bellowed as he rushed at Lundgren once again.

Wallace brought his axe down in a deadly swing, Lundgren raising his lance ever so slightly to block it, his other hand balling into a fist, but at the same time, Wallace brought down his hammer with the other hand. The hammer connected with a loud crash against Lundgren's chest plate, but where the armor should have been dented and flattened remained as new and protecting as ever. In renewed realization, Wallace understood the full depths of the blunder he had made by battling Lundgren so fiercely instead of opting to keep his preoccupied. Smiling, Lundgren put as much effort as he could into his punch, staggering Wallace as he loosened his grip on the hammer, which Lundgren gladly took from his possession. With the hammer in his hand, Lundgren smashed it against Wallace's chest plate, right where his heart would be as it caved in from the force of the blunt blow. The vibration tore through Wallace's armor and body as he fell to the ground. Without missing a second, Lundgren took his lance and drove it into Wallace's abdomen before dragging it across from one side to the other. With blood leaking from his mouth, Wallace let out a silent cry as his head slumped onto the ground.

With haggard breathing, Lundgren looked onwards to the three men cowering in fear from the show he had put on for them. His 'guests' deserved nothing less entertaining. Putting his hand down the collar of his armor, Lundgren produced a small pouch tied around his neck and pulled out from it a small, orange, crystal shaped tear.

"An Energy Drop," Lundgren explained to the three as he dropped it into his mouth and began to chew it, "Medicine that can completely restore one from physical fatigue. It can also serve as an aphrodisiac if taken when not tired."

"Gross…" Erk muttered as the thought of what Lundgren could do with such medicine passed through Michael and Erk's mind.

Realizing that situation was no far beyond their control with Wallace out of the picture, Michael began to step back, fear gripping at his throat. Dorcas, knowing full well that none of them stood any chance of stopping Lundgren stepped in-between the two and Lundgren once again, shivering all the while. Turning his head slightly to meet their gazes, Dorcas silently plead with them to run, which he hoped for the love of all things they understood. In a flash they knew what he was doing and immediately began to run back the way they came. Good.

"It seems they've chosen to abandon you" Lundgren noted as he observed Michael and Erk run off.

"Not running" Dorcas corrected, "Getting reinforcements."

"All the same when compared to me" Lundgren told him as he instantly closed the distance between the two.

Before Dorcas could realize that Lundgren was right in front of him, Lundgren used the hammer and smashed it against Dorcas's chest, breaking several of his ribs as he was sent flying, landing along the path that Michael and Erk had just ran past. Pain blocked all thought from his mind as he attempted to raise his body up from the ground, but couldn't. Walking over to him, Lundgren looked him over curiosity before dropping the hammer down painfully on his hand.

"That belonged to you, I believe" Lundgren said with a smile as he pulled out the pouch once again and produced as white crystal in the shape of a wing and chewed it, then began to run after Michael and Erk.

'_Please, both of you!' _Dorcas pleaded_, 'Stay safe!'_

Back with Michael and Erk, the two were running as fast as their legs could carry them. They had just left the castle grounds and were almost back into the city, but they soon heard the sounds of metal clanking against the street. Looking behind them, they could see Lundgren's purple silhouette catching up to them. He was almost inhumanly fast. There was no way that they could outrun him for much longer. Suddenly, Erk stopped dead in his tracks.

"What are you doing?!" Michael called out to him after running several steps without him.

"Buying you some time to get to the others!" Erk told him, "Just don't expect too much from me though."

"He'll kill you in an instant!" Michael yelled at him.

"Not if I can distract him first!" Erk yelled back as he focused his attention onto Lundgren, chanting a spell under his breath.

Knowing full well that he would never be able to persuade Erk otherwise, Michael began to run again, a few tears running down his face from the hopelessness he was experiencing. With all the strength his legs could muster, Michael ran as fast as he could. He had to get help so that Dorcas's and Erk's sacrifice to him wouldn't be in vain.

As Lundgren came more into view, Erk released his spell, his book turning into a bright orange flame as he propelled it at Lundgren for all he was worth. Lundgren stopped in his tracks and covered his face as the flame made contact, erupting into his own personal inferno as Erk sank to the ground in exhaustion. That last spell had all the power he had left. Once it wore off, he would be a Lundgren's mercy. At best, he had one more minute to live.

Kent and Sain rode their horse as fast as they could. They had made it to the castle entrance and were anxiously riding up the steps when they felt a shadow pass over them. Looking up, they saw the outline of Huey flying overhead. With a wave and a yell form Sain, Florina brought the Pegasus down next to them, Serra on her back, her staff ready to be used.

"Why aren't you with the others?" Sain asked.

"Lyn told us we were better off needed here" Florina explained.

"I hope she was wrong" Kent answered as they passed the last set of gate and entered the castle grounds.

The sight before them was horrible. On the ground, in a puddle of his own blood was General Wallace, his armor smashed and sliced open. His armor was soaked to a dark crimson color as he laid unmoving on the ground. Not far from him was Dorcas, barley moving an inch while his hand was crushed by his hammer. Even while still in shock, Kent and Sain ran over to Wallace and attempted to make him regain consciousness. Meanwhile, Florina went to check on Dorcas's condition.

"Let me heal him!" Serra said in a worried tone as she sat next to Wallace and place her staff on him, chanting her spell.

"Dorcas is still alive!" Florina shouted back to the three as Huey pushed the hammer of his broken hand.

"I wish the same could be said for General Wallace…" Sain responded, his voice dying part way through.

In some bizarre miracle, Wallace's wound began to knit themselves back together, a sign that he was alive. But he was barely conscious from blood loss. Weakly, he pointed back to Dorcas's direction as he tried to speak.

"Don't push yourself, General Wallace!" Kent begged him as he put his hand down.

"L-Lundgren…" Wallace began, almost pleadingly, "Armor….enchanted….can't….break…by…normal…"

Before Wallace could continue, he fell back into unconsciousness. Laying Wallace back down, the group made their way over to Dorcas as Serra healed him as well. He too, regained consciousness as he was healed, but he couldn't seem to find the strength to get up.

"Everyone!" Dorcas said breathlessly, "You have to go…find Erk and Michael! They're being chased by that monster!"

"Where did they go?!" Sain asked him, his tone becoming serious.

Dorcas pointed over to the hill that they had used to come to the castle. Leaving no time for parting words, the four sped off, now in a game against time to rescue their comrades. They were hoping with their entire beings that they would make it in time to ensure their safety.

The flames began to die just after a minute. Erk pulled himself up from the ground with a heavy heart. Was this all he capable of? Lundgren began to advance as the last flame flickered out of life. His scowl even worse than before. At least Erk was able to make him annoyed. That would have to count for something when everyone met up again. Maybe they could all have another male bonding moment? Erk wanted to have another. They were fun in a way. As Lundgren walked right up to Erk, he looked him over, as if expecting another attack, but Erk was spent. Quickly, Lundgren grabbed Erk by the collar of his robes and hoisted him into the air. An intense pain filled Erk's body as he looked down to see a lance penetrating his stomach. Slowly, Lundgren rose Erk further into the air while keeping him firmly planted on his lance head, as he jerked him from side to side, the wound growing and blood leaking out with every motion. Then, as Erk's tortured face satisfied Lundgren, he threw his off from his lance and Erk crashed into a statue, his head splitting on it as he fell to the ground motionless. His appetite slightly satiated, Lundgren continued on.

Riding faster than they had ever done before, Kent and Sain kept their pace even with Florina as her and Serra traveled by air. They had gone so long without seeing anyone. How far could three people get with just their legs alone? But as that thought crossed through their minds, they found a body against the side of the street, next to a statue. And the body was bleeding! Hailing Florina down, the two made their way over to the body, where they were shocked to learn that it was Erk. His stomach had been ripped open and he was bleeding badly form both the wound and a blow to his head. When Florina saw the state he was in, she almost fainted on the spot. Serra became a stuttering wreck as she saw the state Erk was in. Not letting a moment more go by, Serra began to heal him, if he was still alive.

Not waiting for the results, Kent and Sain quickly began to ride again. They had to catch up to Michael, he was the only one left. With only one goal in mind, the two knights pushed forward. Death was only but a consequence. Nothing else mattered more than the safety of their comrade.

Breathing as deeply as possible, Michael collapsed against the wall of a building. He had almost made it back to the city gate they had used to enter. But his feet gave way from under him without his permission. With exhaustion and fear griping him, Michael looked down the path he had come and saw Lundgren looming in the distance. He smiled in spite of himself. Was _this_ how it all ended? If so, what was the point in even surviving these past seven years?! All just to die at the end of a tyrant's lance. Admitting defeat, Michael closed his eyes and awaited the inevitable.

All Michael heard as the galloping of horse as he awaited his end. Was the afterlife filled with horses? Michael couldn't help but doubt it. Hesitantly, Michael opened his eyes and was shocked to find the backs of Kent and Sain guarding him atop their horses and they stared off against Lundgren.

"Kent! Sain!" Michael yelled.

"Hello, Michael" Kent greeted him without looking back.

"Quite the situation we've gotten ourselves into, wouldn't agree?" Sain asked him.

"Where are the others?!" Michael shouted at them.

"Lady Florina and Lady Serra re currently administering first aid to Sir Erk" Sain told him.

"We passed by the castle on the way here. No one was dead" Kent informed him.

Michael breathed a sigh of relief.

"Go" Kent ordered him.

"What?" Michael asked in astonishment.

"We can't fight while worrying about you," Sain shooed at him, "So go and run along now!"

"He'll kill both of you" Michael told them flatly.

"Maybe so," Sain agreed.

"But if you are here, then we will most definitely die" Kent finished.

With a heavy heart, Michael lifted himself off from the building and began to run again. As he feebly ran, his back against the knights, they dismounted their horses and raised their weapons as Lundgren approached. His expression livid as he came closer into view. Both knights gave each other a knowing nod. This was the kind of death they wanted, if not one of old age.

"Ah, one of the traitors!" Lundgren announced as he stepped forward, "Kent…was it not?"

"Lundgren, your treachery precedes you" Kent told him coolly, his sword gripped firmly in his hand.

"I shall make it that you never wished you turned coat!" Lundgren threatened him as he turned his attention towards Sain, "Sain…you are not like that fool Kent over there. Leave that traitor's side. You are reasonable. You can go far in my service!"

"A tempting offer…" Sain mussed.

"It is!" Lundgren agreed.

"But you seem to be under the assumption that I can just turn on my comrades at the drop of a hat. Sad to say I am not cut form the same cloth as you. I'd rather keep my loyalty to those who earned it!" Sain readied his lance as he finished speaking.

Fools!" Lundgren bellowed, "You shall taste the strength of my lance as I bleed the life out of the both of you!"

The knights charged. Kent attempted to stab Lundgren through with his sword, but Lundgren caught the sword in one hand as he blocked Sain's lance with his own. With a violent tug, Lundgren took the blade from Kent's hand and stabbed Sain through the stomach while using the sword to pick him up and then tossed him across the other end of the street. In horror, Kent picked up Sain's lance and attacked again, but Lundgren quickly recovered from his assault of the green knight and smacked Kent in his arm with his lance, a snapping sound echoing as Kent fell to the ground. Taking Kent by the collar of his armor, Lundgren threw his harshly again the ground, where he bounced next to Sain as he struggled to raise his head as he recoiled from the pain of the sword in his stomach. Not caring enough to deliver a final blow to either knight, Lundgren walked off in pursuit of the Tactician once more.

"K-Kent?" Sain choked out in worry for his friend.

In pain coursing through his entire body, Kent grabbed his right shoulder as it hung limp at his side and he pulled himself to his knees, "Yes, Sain?"

"I guess you could say, I'm finally holier than thou" Sain joked as he gripped the sword in this stomach.

"I'll have that out for you in a moment" Kent assured him as he began to crawl towards him.

"I'm afraid it won't do any good," Sain warned him, "The vulnerary I had with me broke when he threw me onto the ground."

"Damn!" Kent swore as he saw a piece of a crushed vial next to Sain.

But they hadn't left Florina and Serra as far behind as they thought, because just as soon as Kent lost hope for Sain, the two flew down on Huey with an unconscious Erk leaning on the Pegasus.

"Kent! Sain!" Serra called out as he leapt off Huey and ran towards them. Florina ran over a swell, her expression grim as she looked on at the scene in front of her.

"Lundgren is still chasing Michael!" Kent yelled as Serra sat down next to him.

With a look of understanding, Florina grabbed he lance tightly and began to run off in the same direction as Lundgren, her expression hardening.

"Let me heal you" Serra told Kent as she began to place the staff against his arm.

"Sain first!" Kent ordered her, "He's the most heavily wounded!" With all the effort he could manage, Kent pulled out the sword with his only good hand, blood gushing from Sain's wound the moment the blade left his innards. Quickly, Serra began to close the wounds, Sain's blood loss would keep him down for a while as he recovered from the shock of the ordeal.

"Now you!" Serra told Kent as she healed him as well.

The pain from his arm easing up, Kent fell to the ground. "Florina may still need your assistance," Kent told Serra, "Go after her!"

"What if you need more help?" Serra asked him, "What about Erk?"

"We shall take care of everything," Sain assured her as he remained on the ground, "I give you my solemn oath."

Though not convinced, Serra broke into a run as she followed after Florina. Kent watched as she disappeared down the bend and out of eyesight.

"Kent?" Sain asked after a moment.

"Yes?" Kent answered.

"What do you suppose the chances of all of us getting out alive are?"

"Slim. At best."

"Buggar."

Florina ran. She ran as hard and as fast as she could. She needed to catch up to Lundgren before he killed Michael. As long as Michael could still come up with a plan, the Legion could still come out on top.

The rumbling that Florina could sense gave her a clear indicator that Lundgren was near. In a hurry, she began to pick up the pace. Every second was vital when someone's life was on the line. Soon, Lundgren's form came into view, his lumbering giving way to the fatigue that was beginning to catch up with him. Breaking into one last sprint, Florina ran in front of him, her lance drawn as she blocked his path.

"Now what do we have here?" Lundgren asked, "It appears a little girl has lost herself on the battlefield. How quaint."

Without responding, Florina gripped her lance even more tightly, her fear sending shivers through her body.

"With a due respect, my dear, you have the first move" Lundgren told her as he bowed politely.

Charging forward, Florina sent a flurry of strikes at Lundgren, but all of them harmlessly bounced off his armor with no even a scratch. In shock, Florina took a step back as Lundgren lunged at her and took her be the throat with one hand, her lance dropping from her grip as she tried to squirm her way free.

"Now that I get a good look at you," Lundgren began as he observed Florina as she struggled against him, "You are quite the beauty. Such a shame that you would have to be a slave of war when you can be put to…better uses."

In an act of defiance, Florina spat in Lundgren's face. Dropping his lance and using his free hand to wipe away the spittle, Lundgren gave Florina a cold stare. They both glared daggers at the other before Lundgren took action.

With a mighty thrown, Lundgren smashed Florina into the floor. Her face crashed into the concrete with a sickening crunch as blood bleed from her head.

"Disgusting wench" Lundgren spat as he picked up his lance and continued his pursuit.

Soon after Lundgren left, Serra arrived, screaming as she saw Florina in the state she was in.

"Stay with me!" Serra screamed as she knelt next to Florina, "I'm healing you right now!"

With the last of her magic, Serra healed Florina's wound, her body moving slightly as the wound closed. Serra breathed a sigh of relief as she fell onto her bottom. But there was no time to relax. As soon a she looked back at her staff, the shaft gave way to the growing cracks as it broke into two. Fear gripped Serra's stomach as the realization washed over her.

"Oh no…"

Back in the center of the city with Lyn's group, Collin's soldiers had needed extra reinforcements as Lyn had thought, however, they were not in as terrible a position as she expected. The enemy was down to a mere dozen and a half compared to their original number. With everyone urging Lyn to rest, she had been sitting out the rest of the confrontation, her muscles beginning to ache from so much extension at once. Hopefully everyone else's endeavors were going more smoothly than theirs. There had been some rumbling and quaking in the ground for some time now, but no one else seemed to sense it, so Lyn passed it off as her mind being overly aware. Regardless, they had stopped some time ago. Soon they would be leaving to meet up with Michael and Kent's group. Then all that would be left would be Lundgren.

'_Grandfather,'_ Lyn thought, _'I'm almost there. Just a little longer.'_

The sounds of running broke Lyn from her thoughts as she saw Michael ran past one of the streets. Sensing something was wrong, Lyn immediately followed after him. There were some corners and alleyways that got in the way, but soon enough Lyn caught up to Michael. His breathing could be heard an entire streets away from how much he was gasping.

"Michael!" Lyn shouted as the tactician turned around violently from across the street.

"Lyn!" Michael cried in relief, "Thank…thank goodness."

"Where is everyone else? Weren't they with you?" Lyn asked him.

Michael expression immediately turned grim, "Lundgren…he's a monster! No one was able to stop him. Wallace, Dorcas, Erk, Kent, Sain, and who knows who else faced him just to buy me time to get to you."

"You mean…" Lyn said as she covered her mouth.

"I'm not sure," Michael shook his head, "But all I know is that nothing seems to hurt him. I can't make a plan if I don't have some idea about what the enemy is capable of!"

"Then don't worry," Lyn assured him, "He will fall to my blade."

"Quite the boast from the one who was troubled by a mere seventy soldiers" Lundgren's voice called out as Lyn jumped to the side sensing danger, a lance piercing the air where she was but a faction of a moment ago.

In retaliation, Lyn struck with her sword, aiming for Lundgren's armored shoulder, but her blade bounced off without so much as a scratch. With a smile, Lundgren swiped at her with his lance, but Lyn ducked and rolled out of the way just in time. Her instincts and agility were the only things keeping her alive, even after the exchange of just a few blows. He was an enemy far above their current level.

"Lyn!" Michael called out as he began to run towards her.

"Stop!" Lyn commanded him as she put out her hand, "Leave Michael!"

"Leave you?!" He repeated, "Are you insane?!"

"You'll only get in the way!" Lyn yelled at him, "Get out of here!"

"Yes, boy," Lundgren agreed with a laugh, "Get out of the way so I can slaughter more of the friends who chose to preserve your life in exchange for theirs."

"I avenge all of them!" Lyn told him, her voice full of venom as she gave Michael one last pleading look to run.

With a heavy heart, Michael once again left an ally behind.

Michael ran.

"May we get to the main event?" Lundgren asked as he smiled evilly as Michael ran.

"I'll enjoy killing you" Lyn said to him hatefully as she prepared her stance.

With a flash, Lundgren struck with his lance, Lyn barely blocked the attack and sending it off course as it pierced the road, breaking the cement underneath them. This was going to be a dangerous battle.

He ran as far as he could, passing by corners and alleys as he ran. Michael didn't care where he ran, just that he was running. But after rounding another corner, the emotions that he was keeping under until then exploded, making him crumple onto the ground in a heap of tears.

'_Again!' _Michael agonized, _'I left someone behind again! Why?!Why does this happen?! Must I be so defenseless that people can only let me run?!'_

"Well, well, well!" A voice rung out, "What do we have here?"

Michael looked up from his ball of self-pity and saw a familiar face.

A woman with eyes and hair equally red, and a smile that gave an air of mystery, with a bag at her side. The woman stood above him as she gave a look as if she was appraising Michael's value.

"Anna…?" Michael asked.

"You remembered my name!" Anna said in glee, "Usually people don't remember a merchant like me!"

"Why are you here?" Michael asked.

Anna frowned at his question, "Well, I WAS here on business on one of my experimental products but then this whole war-thing started and my client hightailed it out of here."

"Sorry?" Michael apologized.

"Don't even get me started on those rude soldiers! As soon as the battle began they took me and threw me into the nearest building! Luckily it was the inn I was staying at…but still! Thanks for causing a ruckus though. It has been a VERY entertaining show."

"Don't make fun of my friends fighting for their lives!"

"Ooohhh! Temper! That's no good!"

"I think I have the right to be angry with what's going on!"

Anna gave Michael a quick once-over. "Did you ever give your lady friend the bear you bought?"

Michael was silent for a moment before answering, "No…I forgot once some enemies attacked us. I just…forgot after that."

Anna frowned as Michael spoke, "There is NOTHING more annoying to a merchant than knowing that their wares were never used for their intended purpose."

"That doesn't even matter now. Lyn's going to die and I don't have a plan to stop it!"

"So you're out of cards to play?" Anna said playfully as she rummaged in her bag, "I think I've got the answer to what ails you!"

Anna produced two items from her bag. One was a small vial and another was a floating orb with gold circlets orbiting a red sphere.

"What are those?" Michael asked.

"Well," Anna told him, "The vial is speed tonic. A liquidized form of the speedwing medicine crystal. Since it's not in its purest form, the effects are reduced a little. The other item I why I was here. This is a Master Seal; an Anna original! It grants insane power to whoever uses it…but it's temporary and it's not out of the testing stages yet."

"And you're just giving them to me?" Michael asked skeptically.

"Well," Anna began as she stuck her hands into Michael's cloak and began to search.

"Hey!" Michael said as he turned a slight shade of red, "Hands where I can see them!"

In a second, Anna brought her hands out of Michael's cloak, his money pouch in her hand.

"Since I'm getting you out of such a tight spot, this here will be enough to pay for the speed tonic and as a down payment for the Master Seal!"

"Deal!" Michael told her as he grabbed the two items.

"I suggest you hurry to Lyn," Anna advised him, "You might just make it with the speed tonic."

His face becoming serious, Michael downed the contents of the vial in a single gulp and turned around to run back to Lyn, his speed ten times what it could ever be.

"Hope he makes it" Anna said with a smile as she opened up the pouch to count the gold.

Lyn was knocked back by Lundgren's lance as she grabbed at her shoulder. It was bleeding slightly, but was nothing serious. Her sleeve was completely torn off though. They were fighting more barely more than a few minutes but Lyn had already lost. He was just playing with her now. Waiting for her spirit to break so he could finish her off. But she would not break. Not now, not ever. Not after so many people sacrificed themselves along the way.

Once again, Lyn charged at Lundgren, her sword aiming for his head as his lance spun into her field of vision. Quickly changing her grip on the sword, Lyn managed to divert the brunt of Lundgren's attack away from her person, but his lance had gotten caught on her robe and tore a clean cut down the middle of the front. Covering her modesty, Lyn jumped back, her right hand till gripping her sword tightly.

"Ah, look how undignified you look!" Lundgren bellowed as he drank in the scene before him, "Just like a savage! Not knowing when the end in upon you, you continue to fight, no matter how useless it is!"

"I won't give up until I'm dead!" Lyn told him coldly.

"That can be arranged!" Lundgren smiled as he smacked Lyn onto the ground with the back of his hand and raised his lance, preparing the final strike.

'_Michael,' _Lyn thought as she closed her eyes, _'I'm sorry I won't be able to be your peerless warrior anymore.'_

The sound of flesh being broken and blood splattering on the ground filled Lyn's ears as the pain she was expecting didn't flow through head a grunt of pain as another grunt of shock followed.

"How did you…?!" Lundgren asked.

"I ran" A voice chillingly familiar to Lyn answered him with a laugh. Fearfully, Lyn opened her eyes to a scene that chilled her blood.

Michael was standing between Lyn and Lundgren, his lance protruding through his side and out the other. His arm right hand was firmly gripping the lance, keeping it in place so Lundgren couldn't remove it.

"Michael…" Lyn let out in whisper.

"Hey, Lyn," Michael told her weakly, "Brought our trump card" Michael handed her the Master Seal.

"What?" Lyn asked herself.

"With this, you can sing Lundgren his requiem" Michael told her as he let go of the spear head, which Lundgren promptly removed with a sickening sound as it left Michael's body, blood gushing from his wound as he fell to the ground. Lyn caught him before he could fall though, her hands quickly stained in his crimson fluid.

"Michael!" Lyn said in a panic as Michael's breathing became shallow.

"Lyn…"Michael spoke to her as he raised his hand for her to grab, "There's something…I need to…tell you…"

"Don't speak!" Lyn told him, her voice cracking, "Save your strength! It'll all be okay, Serra will have you right as rain!"

"My life…until now…has never been good…"

"Stop talking!"

Lundgren looked on at the scene playing in front of him with curiosity. For some strange reason, he felt compelled to attack the two as the boy choked on his last moments. He felt as if some unseen force was pulling him back, making him wait as if this was something he must watch to its completion.

"But…meeting you…gave me hope…" Michael told her with a pained smile, tears in his eyes as he desperately tried to tell his final message, "You…all…gave…my…life…pur…pose…"

"Michael! Don't go!"

"Tha…nk…you…for…ev…ery…thing…"

"Michael!"

"…" Silence. Michael was dead.

Michael didn't close his eyes, his faint smile during the end the only thing that kept Lyn from bursting into tears at that moment.

Rage filled Lyn's body with power as the Master Seal in her hand exploded around her, engulfing the area in a column of light.

"LUNDGREN! I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!"

* * *

**Author's Notes: **Well...that happened... shit.


	23. Chapter 10C: End of the Decisive Battle

Chapter 10C: The End of the Decisive Battle

* * *

As the light of the column erupted around Lyn, power began to pour into her body, the rage she was feeling but seconds ago replaced with cold tranquility, her anger being tempered in a fine edge while being concentrated into her swords. The torn robe covering her person began to change, a new set of garments taking its place.

Lyn's bright blue robes were replaced with a darker shade reminiscent of the deep ocean, with a rich yellow embroidery running along its edges. Before, her old robe for the most part covered her legs, now this new outfit forgoed covering them, settling for draping down her inner thighs and covering that sole section instead, leaving her legs completely exposed, but also allowing for maximum movement. Her yellow sash that held her robes together, changed to a thick red one as it wrapped around her entire torso. Three sheaths containing her swords appeared on her person. Two on either side of her waist, and one on her back. Her hands, which used to be free of any protection, were now covered from finger to elbow with arm guards. Shoulder guards grew from her ensemble, protecting the top most of her upper body as cold-repelling fur sprouted up to cover them.

As the column of light faded, Lyn laid Michael down on the ground and closed his eyes. She then effortlessly scooped his body into her arms. Lundgren looked onto the scene before him in wonder.

"What kind of sorcery is this?" Lundgren asked Lyn as she paid him no mind.

In a split second, Lyn disappeared from view, as if she was a mirage that finally vanished as the rays of light creating her were concealed. Lundgren hastily scoured the area in front of him, trying to lock her back in his sights. But no matter how far he tried to look, she was nowhere to be seen. Then, with a stroke of thought, he looked behind him and found her, several feet away, untying the ripped and bloodied cloak off the boy she had carried away.

Gently, Lyn rose Michael's body as she pulled the rest of his cloak out from under him, then lowered him back onto the ground. Placing his cloak over his body, Lyn carefully closed Michael's eyes, placing a tender kiss on his forehead as she bade him farewell.

"May your journey be a good one," Lyn whispered to him, "And may your next life treat you more fairly…"

Then Lyn rose to her feet, turning her head slightly to meet Lundgren out of the corner of her eye, "I apologize for the wait. Let me put an end to this bloodbath."

"You?" Lundgren laughed, "What could you _possibly_ do?"

With inhuman speed, Lyn charged at Lundgren, her steel sword drawn to her side as she slammed it into Lundgren's lance. The force behind the weapon pushed Lundgren back as his eye's widened in shock that she could be more than his physical equal. Not letting up, Lyn dove between his legs and jumped up, striking at his unprotected back as he tried to keep up with her extreme movements. A loud crack echoed as her sword connected with his armor, but there was no visible damage. Sensing something amiss, Lyn quickly backed away before Lundgren could retaliate.

"As I said," Lundgren boasted as he realized that she could still not harm him, "What could you possibly do?!"

"No matter how thick your armor," Lyn told him calmly as she gripped her sword tighter, "I WILL cut through it."

As Lyn charged at Lundgren once again, the scene changed. Alone in the darkness, a lone young man drifted. The young man appeared to be in a deep but troubled sleep, his eyes twitching violently as he slept.

"**Awaken, young man**" A voice told him.

With a start, the young man awoke, suddenly aware of his surroundings.

"Where…am I?" The young man asked aloud.

"**You are in the boundary in-between**" The voice spoke again. It appeared to belong to a woman, but her voice reverberated with an echo, as if there were multiple copies of herself speaking in perfect harmony.

"In-between?" The young man asked, "What do you mean?"

"**You are passing over from the boundary of life into death,**" The voice explained, "**However, you are taking more time to cross over than many others would. As a result, you are where you currently are; a dark void as Fate decides your end.**"

"So I'm dead…" The young man sighed, "But I died during a battle! How's Lyn!? Is she okay?!"

"**You are speaking of a resident of your world, are you not**?" The voice asked him, "**Unfortunately, I do not have such insight that I may tell you the results of such conflict. Or even if a resolution has been reached.**"

"Damn…" The young man muttered, "Lyn, please win! If not, I'll never forgive you…"

As the woman perplexedly looked as the young man, she felt the need to divulge onto him a minute piece of information, "**If you are so troubled by events left unknown, there is a being I may call that could allow you to see.**"

"Really?!" The young man asked the voice, hope filling his voice.

"**Indeed. Though whether the entity answers my call is another matter all in its own. He is too busy observing the tales of other warriors to be available.**"

"I'll take anything I can get!" The young man told her.

The woman went silent as she contacted the entity. Eagerly, the young man awaited an answer.

"What do you think that explosion of light was?" Sain asked Kent as they stood up from the ground as the energy of the Master Seal faded away.

"I don't know," Kent admitted as he shook his head, "But I hope it was something good."

"Wasn't that the same direction where Lady Florina and Serra headed?" Sain asked again.

"Yes," Kent said with a nod, "…This does not bode well."

"Against my better judgment…" Sain began, "I think we should run towards it."

"Are you so sure you should be up after so much blood loss?" Kent reminded him.

"When has losing blood ever stopped me?" Sain asked him back.

"You do know Lundgren will be there, correct?" Kent asked Sain once again, making sure they were both on the right page.

"I'll get a second chance to stab him in the nether regions!" Sain responded.

"Now that's an idea I can get behind!" Kent yelled as he shot off, Sain right behind him.

As the knights desperately ran down the street, they encountered Serra hovering over an unconscious Florina. Florina was lying down face first in the pavement of the road unmoving. A pit rose in Kent and Sain's throats as they neared, their imaginations running wild the entire time.

"Lady Serra!" Kent gasped, "What happened?"

"Is Lady Florina unwell?!" Sain asked.

"She's fine," Serra told them, "Just unconscious. But…my staff…" Serra ushered towards her healing staff that was resting on the ground next to her, in two separate pieces.

"Did you see that column of light?" Sain asked her.

Serra nodded. "I hope it isn't anything bad."

"Only one way to find out" Kent told her as he picked up Florina and carried her in his arms, Sain going over and helping to put her on his back.

"What happened to Erk?" Serra asked the two of them, noting that Erk wasn't with them.

A second went by as the realization that the both of them left an unconscious ally back from where they came with their steeds.

"No use going back now!" Sain said aloud with a shrug as he began to run again, the others following his example.

Lundgren swiped Lyn with the side of his lance as she ran towards him, but before his weapon could make contact, she had disappeared again. As she reappeared behind him, Lyn took another, more powerful swing at his back, her sword still not ripping through his armor, but the force of the attack was still enough to make him lose his footing. Opting to only strike a singular area of Lundgren's armor to increase the chance of breaking through it, Lyn aimed for the armor covering the small of his back. Repeatedly striking the area with lightning speed, Lyn felt as if the armor was beginning to falter, but Lundgren attempted another sweep at her with the back of his lance before she could determine if it was her mind playing tricks on her or not. Lyn dodged the blow before it could make contact, jumping over the lance and catching herself in a handstand before somersaulting away.

"You will never break through my armor!" Lundgren boasted, "You are fighting a losing battle!"

"We shall see about that" Lyn replied coolly as she went in for another strike.

But Lundgren was ready. With all of his speed, Lundgren raised his lance to meet her sword, the two colliding with extreme force. Both combatants held the other at bay with their equal strength, struggling to gain supremacy. The one who broke the struggle first would be at the other's mercy as the other's weapon would fall upon the other from the force applied to them. Pivoting to the left, Lyn used the force of Lundgren's lance to push him off-balance as she put her full strength in stabbing her sword into his back once again. This time, the sword broke under the stress of attacking a surface as hard as the armor, the hilt being the only part of the sword left in Lyn's hand. Realizing she was weaponless, Lyn backpedalled away, putting some several feet of distance between Lundgren and herself.

Straightening himself up, Lundgren gave Lyn a cocky smile, "And so your weapon fails you, broken in two, just as you shall soon fail!"

Not breaking eye contact, Lyn unsheathed both the Armorslayer and the Lance Reaver from both of her sides, "Where one sword was not enough, two swords shall accomplish."

Again, Lyn charged at Lundgren, her unhuman speed easily allowing her to avoid his attacks while launching her own. Wherever he let his guard down from overconfidence in his armor, Lyn was sure to strike the area as best she could, though there was never so much more than a scratch on the armor as proof of her efforts. No matter how frustrating her current endeavor was, she never allowed her emotions to show through. Losing control of herself would mark the end of this battle.

"Has he answered?" The young man asked the voice as she continued to remain silent.

Nothing but silence answered the young man. But a moment later, the voice returned, "**The entity has informed me that he shall open a portal for you to view the conflict to its conclusion.**"

"Really?!" The young man asked.

"**Indeed**" The voice told him.

As they spoke, a small portal spiraled into existence. In the portal was the scene of the final battle between Lyn and Lundgren. Lyn was charging at him with two swords in hand as Lundgren attempted to break her path of travel with his lance. At the edge of the picture, familiar faces were converging near the body of the young man, though they left it unnoticed as they spoke to each other.

"Kent?!" Wil said as the two groups met each other.

"Wil?!" Sain asked in surprise.

"Sir Matthew?!" Kent responded.

"We are not doing this…" Rath muttered under his breath.

"Why are you all here?" Lucius asked as he observed an unconscious Florina on Kent's back.

"We saw a column of light explode from this location and gave chase" Kent explained.

"Same for us" Wil nodded.

"And what else would we find but Lady Lyndis holding her own against an enemy all of us were completely destroyed against!" Sain added.

They all looked on at the scene playing in front of them, Lyn was dancing around Lundgren, striking, stabbing, and slashing whatever openings Lundgren gave her. No matter how much strength she had, she didn't seem to be able to pierce into his thick armor. If things continued at this pace, Lundgren could just wait for her to tire before dealing the killing blow.

"Hey, guys," Serra began, taking everyone's attention away from the battle, "Is that Michael over there?" She was pointing over to Michael's body across from them, "Is he okay?!"

Kent immediately noticed puddle of red liquid flowing from underneath his cloak. Kent had to swallow back the evidence that supported the thought that passed through his mind.

"How rude!" Sain told the group as he walked over to Michael, "Here we all are, worrying about the both of them and here Michael is, just taking a nap without a care in the world!"

"Sain…" Kent began.

"Oh hush, Kent!" Sain waved away his words as he bent down and shook Michael's body, "Time to wake up, Michael! We could use some of your expertise, given the current situation."

Michael didn't move.

"Seriously," Sain chuckled, "Wake up already…!" Sain still continued to shake his body.

"No…" Serra gasped as she covered her mouth.

"This can't be happening…" Wil said in denial as he shook his head.

"Come on!" Sain cried desperately as he still shook Michael's body, "This isn't funny!"

"Michael is dead" Lyn told them flatly over the sounds of battle as Lundgren grunted and swung his lance around blindly.

"I'm so sorry," Serra cried as she wiped away tears, "If I'd gotten here sooner…"

"No," Kent told her, "If I had been more adamant with making you not heal me, your staff wouldn't have broken."

"It doesn't matter," Lyn told them calmly as she ducked from a swing from Lundgren's lance, "Michael died almost instantly. You would not have made it in time to save him."

"Yes!" Lundgren yelled, "You all should have seen the brat burst into tears during his final moments! That pathetic look in his eyes as his life drained away! Such a disgrace! His parent would be ashamed!"

"…SHUT UP" Lyn ordered Lundgren as she smacked him in the face with the butt of her sword, denting the metal of his helmet as he was sent stumbling backwards.

With renewed vigor, Lyn began to assault Lundgren once more. She became a storm of steel as she danced around Lundgren, attacking anything and everything on his person with great prejudice. So fast were her strikes and so swift were her movements that Lundgren could barely keep up with her last strike by the time she had already performed two more. But still, his armor held through, barely worse for wear.

"Must we continue this farce?!" Lundgren asked, "You only dishonor us both! I am enchanted! There is no weapon any of your ragtag group do savages carry that can harm me!"

"General Wallace said the same thing" Kent said.

"He must have drained every mage in Caelin to enchant his armor" Sain guessed.

"Does anyone here know how we can possibly beat him?" Wil asked.

"There is one way," Serra told them as she wiped away some more tears, "You'd have to use something equally as magical. If it's true that he syphoned every mage in the capital, it'll take something really powerful to defeat him."

"Do we have such an item?" Lucius asked.

"The Mani Katti!" Sain shouted out, "Remember Kent? The sword from the shrine? The sword we got after defeating Glass's group?"

"You're right!" Kent told him, "…How do you remember that?"

"Michael had many notes written about our previous battles."

"How did I never see them?"

"You never tried looking through his cloak."

"You mean he's taken it off?!"

"Excuse me," Rath interjected, "But can we get back to the matter at hand?"

"LADY LYNDIS!" Sain yelled.

"USE THE MANI KATTI!" Kent finished.

Lyn's ears perked up as the two shouted at her. She had almost forgotten about it. It had been some time since she had last drawn it. Throwing both of her blades at Lundgren to buy time, which he swatted away, Lyn placed her hand over the sheath attached hanging around her back and pulled out the Mani Katti. Gripping the katana loosely in one hand, Lyn awaited Lundgren's move. Cautious after her sudden change in attack, Lundgren made note that the blade may be more of a problem than the others. Out of the corner of his eye, Lundgren played with the idea of attacking the small group of onlookers that were Lyn's friends. They could be useful as hostages, or as a means to enrage her so her swordplay would suffer as a result. But almost as if reading his mind, Lyn calmly walked in front of her friends, her blade drawn, the message on her easily received.

Lundgren pulled his lance arm back as he readied hi attack, but within that exact moment, Lyn disappeared once again. Expecting an attack from the rear, Lundgren hastily turned around in hope of catching her off-guard, but it was a feint. Instead, the sound of steel being sliced into two greeted his ears. Pulling his hand back abruptly as pain coursed through him, Lundgren came to the horrible realization that his armor was no longer his absolute advantage. His bleeding hand a dead give-a-way that this was now a losing battle.

"That's for the people you've wronged" Lyn announced to him as she crouched down in front of him.

Desperately launching himself as her in a huge strike, Lundgren stabbed downward with all his strength, striking the road for his efforts. Then, the sound of more armor being torn asunder screeched in the air as Lundgren's entire torso began to be drenched in blood, his armor now resembling a purple chess board.

"That's for my Grandfather" Lyn told him once again.

Lundgren craned his neck to Lyn's direction again, but just like the previous two times, she had disappeared. The sound of armor tearing and flesh being broken filling his ears from all sides as his armor began to fall apart in chunks from the amount of damage they had received. Lundgren collapsed onto his knees from the pain and blood loss as his breathing became uncontrollable, fear and fatigue setting in.

"That was for Michael!" Lyn said again, her anger more clear in her tone this time as she appeared directly behind Lundgren.

"S-Sacaean mongrel!" Lundgren roared as he turned around to attack her, as Lyn jumped into the air and landed on the handle of his lance.

"And this…" Lyn whispered as she stabbed Lundgren in the forehead, an expression of fear and rage now stuck on his face, "Is because I HATE you."

Instead of pulling out the blade as Lundgren fell to the ground, Lyn only dug it in deeper as she began to take deep breaths. Her arms were shaking and she felt nauseous from the whole ordeal. But they were victorious. Giving a weary smile to her friends, it automatically disappeared as her gaze fell onto Michael's body once again. They had won, but was it worth it?

Slowly, Lyn pulled out her sword from Lundgren's brain as she walked over to Michael's body. The others met her there. Whether out of exhaustion or sadness, Lyn fell to her knees as she began to cry. The emotions that she had been bottling up now breaking free. Some of the others joined in with her as they began to properly mourn the passing of their friend. But just seconds into weeping, a sound of clapping filled their ears.

"I must say, I AM impressed!" A voice told them.

Everyone turned around to see a red-haired woman clapping as she calmly walked over to them, a smile on her face.

"Anna," Lyn managed, "What are you doing here?"

"Only saving all of your lives," Anna told her as she puffed up her chest slightly, "Who do you think gave Michael that Master Seal, huh? Which, by the way, thank you for using. I got quite a lot of information on how it works. This'll speed up research be years! ...Expect those cloths to wear off when the power does."

"You were watching the battle the entire time?" Kent asked.

"Yep!" Anna told him with a nod as she looked at Lyn, "And I must say, even I felt cathartic as I saw you sink that blade in Lundgren's face! I can only IMAGINE how you felt!"

"Happy I put on a good show for you…" Lyn muttered bitterly to herself.

"Please, madam," Lucius told Anna, "Some of us are currently mourning the passing of a friend. If you've nothing else to say, leave us in peace."

"But that's where you're wrong!" Anna told them, "I'm actually here to bring the little cloak-wearing guy up and running again!"

"Don't you dare promise something like that!" Lyn shouted as she shot back up.

"Whoa, there!" Anna said as she waved her arms worry, "I don't make empty promises! I have just the thing to help right here in my pack…" Anna immediately began to dig around in her until she produced a staff.

The staff had a shaft made of wood, with both ends adorned with gold handlings. One end had the look of a sword hilt while a small ruby was adorned into each of its sides. A small flame pattern was etched onto each side, encircling the ruby. The other end, which was the head of the staff, with what appeared to be a golden arrowhead melded to it, but the inner part of the head was removed, where a small red jewel was encrusted on a just as small mantle. On either end of the staff was a red tassel fluttering in whatever light breeze caught it.

"What's that?" Wil asked.

"No…" Serra uttered in shock, "It can't be…That's supposed to be a legend!"

"What is?" Sain asked her.

"That's an Aum Staff!" Serra exclaimed.

"That's quite the eye you have there, missy!" Anna praised her as she walked over.

"What's an Aum Staff?" Lyn asked wearily as she stood between Anna and Michael.

"It's a staff that can resurrect your friend" Anna told her bluntly, "Now get out of my way so I can do my thing!"

Pushing Lyn out of the way, Anna knelt next to Michael as she began to mutter an incantation. A soft light began to envelop Michael's body as the staff glowed a soft crimson. The color began to return to Michael's face as Anna continued on, his wounds beginning to close.

There was a strong tug beginning to pull the young man away as he continued to watch the events transpiring in the portal. He felt his body beginning to break apart, but there was no pain, only euphoria.

"W-what's happening?!" The young man asked I wonder.

"**You are being resurrected**," The voice told him, "**It seems your life is not yet over**." The voice sounded glad for him.

"So I'm…going back?" The young man asked, his voice cracking up.

"**Yes**"The voice confirmed.

"Before I go," The young man said quickly as the tugging became stronger, "What's your name?"

"**My name is irrelevant**," The voice told him, "**Once you return to your body, all memories of this place shall be wiped away from your mind**."

"Why?" The young man asked.

"**I do not know**," The voice admitted, "**But the entity told me as such**."

"Even if I forget," The young man said, "I want to know the name of the person who kept me company here. Mine is Michael."

The voice laughed a little as if what Michael was saying was the buildup to one big joke, "**Very well. I am known as Naga**."

"Naga…" Michael repeated to himself, "Thank you."

"**You need not thank me for anything**," Naga told him, "**But the entity does wish for me to tell you one thing**."

"What?" Michael asked curiously.

"**He told me to say 'sorry' about the slap**."

"What slap?" Michael began before the tug gained full hold onto him and spirited him away.

Michael lurched up in a coughing fit as blood was expelled from his mouth onto his already bloodstained cloak as he desperately tried to catch his breath. Everyone around him except for Anna jumped back as they saw their friend rise from the dead. After several more coughs, Michael wearily looked up towards his friends.

"Don't know about the rest of you, but I think I'm going to stick to the backlines from now on. They're…more…safe…"

Before Michael could cough again, Lyn tackled him in a gigantic hug.

"YOU'RE ALIVE!" Lyn cried with joy, "AND BREATHING! AND TALKING!"

"See, Sain?" Michael said wearily as sleep began to overtake him, "This is how you get…women to be…all over…you…"

With that, Michael promptly fell asleep in Lyn's arms, not giving Sain a chance to come up with a witty retort. Though Sain would not have been able to give one even if he wanted to, because he and everyone else were too flabbergasted by the sudden events to say anything.

"Is he…" Wil began, "Going to be okay? He lost a lot of blood…"

"He'll be fine," Anna reassured, "The Aum Staff will keep circulating through his system until he's fully recovered."

"As much as I hate to end this touching scene," Kent began, "Should we not go and see to the marquess's safety?"

"We'd best make tracks!" Sain announced as he picked up Michael, he, Kent, and Lyn running off towards the castle as the others surveyed the damage and spoke with Anna.

The three made a mad dash for the castle as Sain, with his amusing wit as always, addressed a routine action they had been partaking in during today's battle,

"Do you ever notice how much we've all been running around today?"

Kent responded with a "Shut up, Sain!" through gritted teeth as he carried Florina on his back.

The three burst through the doors of the castle, Lyn having the Mani Katti drawn, expecting some last form of resistance. However, all they met were some frightened advisors that were more than happy to escort Lyn to her Grandfather's chambers after being informed that Lundgren was dead. Meanwhile, the other had personally escorted Kent and Sain to the infirmary where they could set down Florina and Michael, while promising to send others to retrieve Wallace and Dorcas as well as the others in town, as well as promising to retrieve the siblings outside of the gates.

Outside her Grandfather's chamber, the advisor that escorted Lyn bowed his head and made himself scarce. With a mighty breath to compose herself, Lyn opened the door and walked in.

"Who is there?" A gruff voice greeted Lyn as she walked in, "I believe I said I would have no visitors."

Lying in bed was an old man. His hair was gray and falling out in clumps. His heavily wrinkled and pale face was nothing but skin and bones. His white eyes were opened only halfway as he barely pulled his neck up from his pillow. He wore a green cape over his noble attire. The man looked as if he could pass on at any moment. Lyn did not reply as she sadly looked down at her feet.

"What are you doing?" The old man asked, not focusing his attention onto Lyn, "Leave me…to die…"

"Don't," Lyn commanded him softly, "My name…is Lyndis."

"What?!" The old man asked in surprise, "That name…!"

"My father's name was Hassar, chieftain of the Lorca tribe," Lyn continued, "My mother's name was Madelyn."

"C-come closer!" The old man beckoned as he hear Lyn speak. Hesitantly, Lyn stepped forward to the man's bed, leaning down so that he wouldn't have to strain himself to look at her so much.

"Those eyes…" The old man whispered as tears welled in his eyes, "They are the same as Madelyn's. I cannot believe it…" The old man rested his head on his pillow as he began to weep in happiness.

"Grandfather…" Lyn replied hopefully as she straightened up somewhat.

Pulling himself up from his bed, Lyn's Grandfather pulled her into a gentle embrace, "Lundgren told me that Madelyn was dead. Killed by bandits along with the rest of her family. All of you. Thank you. Thank you for living and coming to greet an old and dying man... Thank you for making my last moments happy ones!"

"No!" Lyn yelled as she broke from the embrace, light tears in her eyes, "I won't let you die! You can't die after I fought so hard to meet you! Even if it's the most selfish things for me to make you live, I don't care! I want to know my Grandfather! I want to learn about the land where my Mother grew up! I want us to have time together as a family! I don't want to be alone again!"

"I am so sorry for your loneliness…" Lyn's Grandfather continued, "If I hadn't been so blind and arrogant to your parent's love, we could have had years to get to know one another. There would have been no bandits! Please forgive this dying old man…Please."

"I can't forgive what I don't know," Lyn explained, "But I won't forgive you if you die now! On the Sacae Plains, we have a saying; illness falls to one with a strong heart! If you are my Grandfather, you should have the strongest of hearts!"

"But with all the poison I have had…" Lyn's Grandfather mumbled, "No. If my only Granddaughter wishes me to live, then I shall spit in the face of Death if she but asks it of me!"

"I'll even help nurse you back to health!" Lyn added, "There are so many things we must do together… So many things we have to learn about the other! I can't wait for such times to come."

* * *

**Author's Notes: **If any of you guys thought I would really kill off Michael, you obviously didn't read the summary! lol. We still have the rest of the game to go through.

But don't be sad just yet! There is at least one more chapter to Lyn's story! And that's some of Michael' backstory! Yeah, the greatest enigma of the Legion finally comes clean about his past (At least about what he knows).


	24. Chapter 10D: A Sad Past, But

Chapter 10D: A Sad Past but a Hopeful Tomorrow

**Author's Notes: **Finally, the last part of chapter 10! Next one is the epilogue! I'd just like to apologize in advance for the little slapstick scene in advance. It may only come as inappropriate or baldy executed, but we can all agree we need some funny stuff after everything else in this past chapter, right?

Reviews:

**Rotciv557**: The Aum staff was supposed to come off as an asspull/ Deus Ex Machina. I mean, the fact that Anna just so happened to be there to supply the heroes with a Master Seal was also out of left field! But then again, this IS Anna we're talking about. The Random Number Goddess. Who knows what she has in that pouch/sack.

This chapter has been going on a bit too long, don't ya think? =D

* * *

The best thing about waking up in a strange place is finding familiar faces. Even better is if you wake up to find other's also in a sickbed near you. Of course, if one wants to make it even better, them having a conversation while you're unconscious is the best case scenario. Of course, that last one does become detrimental when you are attempting to get some rest after dying.

"So he passed you a spherical object that then burst into the column of light?" A voice asked.

"All the while, Lundgren's lance was getting to intimately know his innards?" Another one asked.

"Yeah," Another voice told them, "It was pretty impressive of him…minus the whole dying-in-my-arms thing."

"Kid's got a brass pair!" Another voice yelled. Wallace. Definitely Wallace.

"The kid's also got a splitting headache…" Michael groaned as he pulled himself up from the bed her was on.

"And he awakes!" Sain announced in an over the top fashion.

"How do you feel?" Florina asked from across the room in her own bed.

"I feel like I just went through ten rounds with Wallace with no body armor" Michael grunted as rubbed on of his sides.

"Ha!" Wallace laughed, "Only ten rounds? I expect more from you, kid!"

"We thought you'd be out for a lot longer than two hours" Lyn said as she helped him sit up straight.

"Are you…glowing?" Michael asked her as he saw little spheres of light slowly rising up all around Lyn. They looked exactly like fireflies.

"It's the sign that Lady Lyndis is losing the effects of the sphere you gave her earlier," Kent told him, "That is, if Anna's word is anything to go by."

"And now that I know you're ok, I can go take a nice _**long**_ walk," Dorcas announced with a grunt from the other side of the room as he got himself out of a bed and began to walk out, "Nice seeing you're still kicking, Boss."

And Kent and I have some things to discuss with Collin!" Sain suddenly remembered as he began to pull at Kent's shoulder.

"What do you mean?" Kent asked him, "That matter can stand to wait for a while."

"Kent," Sain told him through clenched teeth, "We truly need to work on your inability of taking a hint."

"I should go get Huey as well," Florina said with a high chuckle as she pulled herself out from the covers of her bed, "I don't want her to ruin her appetite on grass when we have….better grass I can give her for dinner."

Quickly, the three of them left the room, almost as if they were being chased out.

"And…I need to…" Wil began.

"Go with me to the sparring room so I can start teaching you hand-to-hand combat!" Wallace suggested.

"Exactly!" Wil responded, "Wait…what?"

"Too late to back out now!" Wallace told him as he put an arm around Wil's shoulder.

"But…you shouldn't be doing any strenuous activities! The doctor said so!" Wil cried.

"It won't be a problem if I only direct you!" Wallace laughed as he began to drag Wil by his shoulder.

"Help me…!" Wil squeaked as Wallace pulled him away.

A moment of silence filled the room as Michael and Lyn looked at the door, surprised by their friends suddenly leaving in droves. All at once. As soon as Michael woke up.

"Did they just ditch us?" Michael asked in confusion.

"I think they did!" Lyn agreed.

"So…" Michael began suddenly feeling awkward, "Did you…meet your Grandfather?"

Lyn's facial expression suddenly changed from curiosity to joy. "I did! When I saw him he was ready to die from the poison. But…I convinced him that he still had more life to live. I told him that we have a lot of time to catch up on. Time we can…spend as a family."

"Do you think he'll be able to pull through?" Michael asked her seriously, "He must have been being poisoned for some time now."

"I know he will," Lyn nodded, "Any family of mine is sure to have an iron heart and an unbreakable will."

"I'm happy for you, Lyn" Michael told her honestly.

"Thank you," Lyn thanked him, "Without you, I don't think we would have all made it this far."

"I didn't do much!" Michael assured her as he leaned against his pillow, "All I did was use my sword one time and got a lance in my side for my troubles. Every one of you made winning this battle possible."

"Are you still trying to be modest?" Lyn chuckled a little, "Who do you think led us all to victory?"

"You, obviously!" Michael answered her, "But I wouldn't expect any less from my peerless warrior!" Michael teased.

"And I suppose the strategy concocted by my master tactician had nothing to do with it?" Lyn asked sarcastically.

"I can say without a doubt that my plan lost all effectiveness when we met Lundburger!" Michael huffed, "I still have a lot to learn."

The two went quite for a few moments as the spheres of light around Lyn grew in number. Lyn was suddenly very intrigued by her shoes while Michael found the ceiling to be incredibly fascinating.

"Lyn…" Michael said, not averting his gaze from the ceiling.

"Yes?" Lyn asked.

"I…need to tell you something. Something important."

"What is it?" Lyn asked again, her attention focusing one Michael. The spheres were furiously growing in number and traveling even faster now. They were almost covering Lyn now.

"Well…" Michael began, "Where do I begin? It's…kind of hard to explain…but…"

"Out with it already!" Lyn shouted.

"Ok! Ok!" Michael sighed, "I wa-wow…! Um…"

Michael lost his train of thought as the last of the spheres of light dissipated, Lyn's outfit vanishing as her old one took its place. Her old one was severely damaged from her battles earlier today. There were cuts and tears in multiple places from where enemies had attacked her. But the most noticeable one by far, was the enormous tear directly down the middle of Lyn's front. While still covering everything, it left very little to Michael's imagination. In fact, Michael was almost entranced by the view he found himself enjoying. His mouth was agape as his mind shut down on him.

"What's with the 'wow'?" Lyn asked him curiously. From the look of his face, Lyn slowly looked down to her robe. Her eyes widened in realization as she looked back at Michael, one of her arms attempting to cover as much skin as possible.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Lyn shouted as she slapped Michael across the face with her free hand. Michael was sent straight down to the floor from the force of her slap, his face suddenly becoming good friends with the floor.

"I thought people were supposed to be nice to the sick and wounded…." Michael moaned in pain as he spoke to the floor.

Lyn grabbed a nearby sheet off one of the beds and wrapped it around herself. Her face was red with embarrassment. In a great haste, she left the room to search for a seamstress, or fresh change of clothes. Having both was the most preferable option. Whatever Michael had wanted to tell Lyn was ruined by the sudden turn of events. There was apparently no better moment-killer than viewing another person's semi bare body. Usually that kind of incident was reserved for comedies. Go figure.

"Hey, Michael!" Matthew called out as he rounded a corner and walked into the room, "Are you awake…yet…" Matthew saw Michael face down on the floor, "Looks like you're doing fine," Matthew spoke aloud as he began to walk out backwards, "I'll just go and see if I can't help myself to some royal treasure for traveling expenses… Bye!"

The next two weeks went by without incident. As Michael recovered in the infirmary, Lyn was nursing her Grandfather back to his original condition. On occasion, Lyn would stop by and visit Michael, often carrying a meal for him, which he ate in gratitude. Once every day, Sain and Kent would also drop by to check on his recovery as well. The first day they visited him, they brought some new clothe for him to wear, which he accepted gratefully, happy to now shed his bloodied garments. But after the two week period of imprisonment in the infirmary, Michael was finally in good enough condition to leave. With his first steps, Michael went to the only place that made sense to him: The library.

The library was a huge room fifty feet wide and thirty feet high. There, rows upon rows of books ranging from all topics were alphabetized and sectioned off by author and subject. Michael had died and gone to tactician heaven. He quickly made the library his room as he immersed himself into every book of tactics he could find for hours on end. A week later, only Lyn, Kent, Sain, Florina, Wil, and Wallace were the only ones left from the Legion who hadn't left now that the job was done. Eventually, Lyn caught wind of it and dragged him out by the ear to get some sunlight.

"Ow, ear! Ow, ear!" Michael squeaked in pain as Lyn dragged him through the castle, the servants giving the duo an odd look as they passed.

"You need some sun," Lyn informed him after looking at his pale skin, "It's not healthy to stay cooped up inside for so long."

Eventually, Lyn brought Michael out to the back of the castle under a lone tree on a hill. The flowers were in full bloom under it as sunlight broke through the leaves in small patches. A gentle breeze was flowing through the area, giving the warm air some new life.

Lyn pointed to the ground as Michael sat down under the tree, Lyn following in suite as soon as he was seated. There, the two enjoyed some silent moments enjoying the breeze together. Michael's chest felt like it was about to explode. He wanted to tell her. Now was as good a time as any and they wouldn't be interrupted like they were in the infirmary.

"Lyn?" Michael asked to get her attention.

"Hm?" Lyn asked as she continued to enjoy the slight breaks of sunlight.

"I have a confession to make."

"What kind?"

"I lied to you. Back when we first met."

"Really?" Lyn asked in a mock shocked tone.

"I'm being serious here!" Michael told her, "Back when I told you I didn't remember much about my life…I was lying."

"And you're telling me this now, why?" Lyn asked.

"Because you deserve to know," Michael told her as he looked her in the eyes, "I'm…from Araphen. Specifically, I'm the marquess's…. grandson."

"What?!" Lyn exclaimed as she jumped up, "You're his grandson?! But I don't understand! How couldn't we get aid from them if you two were family?!"

"That's just it," Michael explained, "We hate each other. To him, I am an existence that he wishes was never conceived."

"What?!"

"I'll have to explain from the very beginning. Even then, I don't know all the details. All I can tell you is all that I know."

Michael closed his eyes as he began to recall the painful memories. His arms shivered as he sorted out his thoughts, piecing together how he would tell his story. He gipped his fists tightly as his nails dug into his skin.

_I suppose the best place to begin is with my parents. You see, my father was a noble. The marquess's son if it wasn't obvious. My father liked to explore the town in his younger years. That's how he met my mother. My mother was a commoner. But somehow, my father became enamored with her. They…had a relationship that was kept secret for all of those round them. Of course, that secret was eventually found out when my mother became pregnant with yours truly. My grandfather wasn't exactly ecstatic to be having a bastard in his family line. My parents were wed shortly before my birth. Once they were married my grandfather's animosity towards them dissipated over time. Apparently, my grandfather approved of my mother. Just…I didn't fit into the picture._

_Once I came along, things took a different turn. Shortly after I was born, within a week, in fact, I was taken from my parents at my grandfather's orders. Apparently, it didn't matter that my parents were married by the time I was born. I was still a bastard in his eyes. I assume he would have killed me, but a counselor and advisor to my grandfather spoke up against him. That was Jeigan. Since Jeigan was so adamant in my protection, my grandfather designated him as my guardian. Jeigan accepted the order without a second thought. _

"How horrible!" Lyn said with a look of horror on her face.

"I guess," Michael shrugged, "But there's still more to come."

_Fast forward to the first memories of my life, I was about three years old. It was my birthday and Jeigan had gotten me quite the large cake. I remember my parents were there. They…looked happy to see me. I remember playing with them with everything I had. I had grown up with only the occasional visits from them every year. They visited me every…four month? Three? It doesn't matter. The point is that I never saw them enough for my liking. I remember…clinging to my mother's dress as they left that night. I…didn't want them to leave again. I cried. Jeigan put his arm around me and pulled me into a hug. My parent never looked back at me. Not then. And not during any of their other visits either. _

_Then, a year later, things changed for me. On my fourth birthday, my parents never showed. _

"_Jeigan," a young Mark asked, "When will I see Mommy and Daddy again?"_

"_Very soon, young one" Jeigan told me as he tried to console me._

"_When is that?" I asked him._

"_Soon. Tomorrow even!" Jeigan told me with a forced smile._

"_But I want to see them today! Why aren't they here for my birthday?" I asked, my voice breaking as I spoke._

"_I'm not too sure myself, young one. But let me make a promise; I shall go to the palace tomorrow and ask myself, is that alright?"__ Jeigan was trying to calm me down before I burst into tears. I usually cried well into the night when that happened._

_"Okay! It's a promise!" I agreed, perking up in an instant. But then, a crushing disappointment would come over me the next day._

_"What do you mean they can't come?! Why?! Don't they love me?" My voice was breaking. Tears were beginning to run down my cheeks. _

_"Young one, I do not know why myself, but they must have a good reason for not allowing your parents out." Jeigan was trying to reason with me. But even his own voice held uncertainly in it._

_"But I want to see them now! I never see them! Why can't they come the one day I want them to?" The child yelled. I was angry. Disappointed. Betrayed. Heartbroken._

_"I am sorry, young one…" Jeigan apologized. He meant it to. His voice had a sorrow in it that even I, as a child, could make out. _

_It wouldn't be until later on that I found out my sister, Uriel, was born just a few days prior to the incident. I would find that out a few years later down the road. But for now, all I knew was that my parents had abandoned me. I thought it was my fault. That I had done something. I got this crazy idea in my head that is I became smart enough, my parents would come back. They'd hoist me into their arms and would never let go. I would go live with them and we could be a family. Boy, how innocent and hopeful was I back then._

"Wait," Lyn broke through the monologue as Michael took a pause, "You called yourself Mark in your story. But you introduced yourself as Michael; why?"

"As time went by, I became more cynical," Michael explained, "The child in me that was known as Mark technically died that day. After that point, I read everything I could find and tried to learn all that I could in the hopes that my parents would take me back once I was smart enough. I still went by my name as the time, but that would eventually change."

_One day after my tenth birthday, I was inside Jeigan's house. I was reading a book the genealogy of my family. I was going to impress my parents with the knowledge of our family tree. The last time is saw them was seven years ago. Shortly after my third birthday. I should have figured out sooner that they were never going to see me again. _

"_Young one!" Jeigan told me as he saw me sitting in bed, reading another book, "Why are you still inside on such a beautiful day? Why not go and play with the other children?"_

"_I don't want to," I told him, playing with my locket tied around my neck. The only gift I ever received from my Father. "Besides, they're boring. They don't like me and I don't like them."_

"_Now, now," Jeigan lightly scolded me, "What kind of child speaks in such a way? You'd best enjoy your youth while you can. There is plenty of time to read… 'Genealogy of the Araphen Royal Family'? What are you trying now, young one?"_

"_Maybe if I remember everything here," I told him, "Mom and Dad can…see me again."_

_Jeigan gave me a sad smile, "I have told you many time over the years, young one, but I know for a fact that they would not see you unless the reason was great enough." _

"_But maybe if I get smart enough, I can fix the problem!" I said, grasping at the straws of my optimism. _

"_If my opinion means anything," Jeigan began as he pulled me into a soothing hug, "You are among the smartest of individuals I have ever known."_

"_Really?!" I asked in disbelief. _

"_Really" Jeigan assured me, "Now; go outside and play."_

_I closed the book and ran outside, happy that Jeigan had told me I was smart enough. But what I didn't do was play outside. I ran to the castle. I wanted to see my parents. I through I would be smart enough to see them again. I…was wrong. About many things._

_I remember running through the caste doors, ducking and dodging through the guards legs as I they tried to catch me. I thought they were playing with me. I thought my existence was known in the castle. I should have known better. I'd never set foot in the place in my entire life until that day. Then I came across the throne room where my Grandfather was, speaking with an advisor as I ran in. _

"_Leave me for now…" My grandfather ordered hi advisor as he saw me. His look was one of barely contained anger._

_I just stood there, drinking in the image of the man I thought was an existence as great as my parents. Some of the guards who were chasing me came in, stopping in their tracks as they saw my Grandfather giving me his full attention._

"_And what are you doing here?" He asked me, his tone icy._

"_I…want to see Mom and Dad," I told him sheepishly, "I think I can fix why they haven't been able to see me in so long."_

_He laughed in my face. A cold laugh. A laugh that spat on my life. "Allow me to let you in on a little secret: You aren't wanted. You never were. And never will be!"_

"_What?" I asked as I took a step back, my eyes filling with tears._

"_You were never wanted. You will never be wanted."_

"_Y-you're lying!" I yelled._

"_Am I?" My Grandfather said, "Then where have your parents been for the last several years?"_

"_They had a good reason!" I told him, "I know so! Jeigan told me!"_

"_So the old man DOES tell lies!" He laughed._

"_Don't you dare call Jeigan a liar!" I commanded him._

"_Oh, what is this? A command? You dare command the marquess? Well, little boy, it seems you'll have to learn your place…if you live long enough, that is. Guards!"_

_At his words, two of the guard came from behind me and each grabbed one of my arms and raised me off the ground. I kicked and screamed, but they wouldn't let go. My Grandfather took a sword from one of the guards and waved it in front of my face._

"_Do you see what this is?" He asked, "This shall be the last thing you will ever see. And then the taint you represent will be cleansed from this family."_

_I shivered in fear as he put the blade gently to my cheek, the cold touch of the steel freezing me in fear. I would have been killed in the next minute if a certain someone hadn't come to my rescue. _

"_I'd ask you to reconsider your course of action, milord!" _

_My Grandfather turned towards the voice, as Jeigan appeared from the other end of the hall._

"_Ah, Jeigan!" My grandfather greeted him, "The little family is gathered together in this very room! What are the odds?"_

"_I would advise your guards to release the young boy, if I may be so bold" Jeigan told him as he walked over._

"_From the tone of your voice, Jeigan, it sounds more like a command" My Grandfather noted._

"_That's because it is…milord" Jeigan responded._

"_Excuse me?" My Grandfather fumed._

"_I believe milord is not so hard of hearing, is he not?" Jeigan asked, "Surely the ramblings of a child are not enough to cloud your judgment, hm?"_

"_Of course! But if those rambling happen to belong to a child that does not deserve to exist, then I cannot simply stay me hand."_

_Jeigan turned towards me as he gave both of the guards holding me a cold stare. Instantly, they released me from their grip. I feel on my feet as Jeigan firmly grabbed my shoulder as he gave me an assuring look._

"_Must your rage truly find a target, milord?" Jeigan asked him as he turned around._

"_Why, yes!" My Grandfather yelled, "With not one but two of my least favorite people in the world in front of me ordering me around, I'd say my rage is justified!"_

"_Very well," Jeigan nodded, "Your rage shall end a life here today. Let the young one go."_

"_Jeigan?!" I asked._

"_Listen to me, young one," Jeigan advised as my Grandfather prepared his sword, "Do not let revenge or despair cloud your senses. Never let the innocence or light in your spirit die. Live a happy life. One without regrets. If you can live like that, I can be a happy man."_

"_Why are you talking like that?" I cried as I began to wipe the tears from my eyes, "Stop talking like someone's dying!"_

_Jeigan smiled, "Grow up strong and happy, young one."_

_I heard a sickening sound as I wiped away the tears. When I opened my eyes next, Jeigan was on the ground, a sword in his stomach. Blood was leaking out. _

"_Jeigan!" I cried as I shook his shoulder._

"_Now, now…young one…" Jeigan gasped, "Remember my words…don't let revenge cloud you…change you….please, Mark...live to see a better tomorrow…"_

_Those were the last words Jeigan told me as he closed his eyes for eternal sleep. I fell on my rear as a thousand emotions overcame me. My Grandfather just laughed at the scene playing out in front of him. His sadistic laugh may as well have belonged to the Devil. _

"W-What happened next?" Lyn asked, her voice barely under control.

"I ran," Michael told her, "I ran back home. I took my things and I ran. For seven years I've been running. All the while, my thirst for revenge fueling me, keeping me going. For seven years I kept all human contact to a minimum. I distrusted people. Jeigan's final words fell onto deaf ears. Gosh, is it raining?"

Michael looked towards the ground as tears streamed down his face. Tears of sadness and regret. But also, tears of catharsis as well. It felt good to share this story with someone. Finally, part of the weight on Michael's shoulders finally lifted.

The next thing Michael knew, a pair of arms were enveloping him as he was pulled into a tight hug. He felt his head brush against Lyn's chin as the sounds of her sobbing filled his ears, her tears falling into his hair.

"You poor thing," Lyn sobbed, "You were all alone for so long. You're family abandoned you. I can't even begin to know how that feels! You've been alone for so much longer than I was and the loneliness almost killed me! But you! You've survived! That alone is good enough for any parent. Wherever Jeigan is, he smiles down upon you!"

"Thank you…" Michael gasped as he clung to her, "Thank you for finding me. Thank you for letting me feel like I mattered to someone again! Thank you for being my best friend! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I can't ever say it enough!"

"You've helped me as well!" Lyn reminded him, "Without you, I would have never made it this far! Because of you I have family again!"

The duo sat there under the shadows of the tree and wept into each other's arms. For them, nothing else mattered right now but the other person in front of them. Their days together would soon come to an end. But right now that didn't matter. All that did was that in each other, they found comfort.


	25. Epilogue: Until We Meet Again

Epilogue: Until We Meet Again

**Author's Notes: **Wow. The end of Lyn's story. Took longer than I thought to get here. But no need to cry, Eliwood/Hector's story is coming up next. Though I will put this story on hiatus for a week or two. I may just begin a little side fic as well. It'll be a pokemon one as well. Check it out of you're interested. It'll take place in its own region prior to fifth gen.

Until next update guys, bye!

* * *

Michael spent one more week in the Castle Caelin before his time to leave for new lands arrived. Well, that's the way Michael would put it. In reality, Anna had barged into the castle and demanded that Michael be ready to leave for Bulgar within the week. Since he owed Anna fifty thousand gold for the Aum Staff and Master Seal, it would take him a year to work off his debt, if he hurried. He was now her indentured servant. The summer was nearing its end, and fall would just lead to less than desirable conditions for a month long travel.

The week went by in the blink of an eye. On the morning of the designated day, Michael was up early for once, his hatred for the morning sun still as intense as it was when he spent his first night of the Sacae Pains. But with all of his hatred for mornings, Michael had to admit they were beautiful. The chirping of the birds, the fresh dew on the grass, the cool breeze that made the leaves dance. It was a great change of pace.

But as he packed what little things he owned in a bag, Michael couldn't help but feel melancholic. He would be leaving behind the friends he had made during these short four months. He could remember meeting everyone with crisp detail. Some of them he had felt he had grown very close to. Dorcas, the giant with an axe that never truly spoke unless spoken to. Erk, the mage with an attitude and sarcastic remark for any situation. Kent and Sain with their two man stand-up comedy, though Kent probably never meant for anything comedic. And Lyn. The girl who had changed his life in so many ways in so little time that he couldn't help but feel anxiety at the thought of leaving her. Since when was he the clingy type?

Michael shook his head violently to rid himself of those thoughts. It was not a final goodbye. They would see each other again. He was sure of it. Putting his mind back to packing his belongings, Michael noticed two things: first, his cloak was now barely holding itself together after all the abuse it had been put through these past few months. He would need a new one. He didn't feel complete without one. Go figure when you spend almost six years with one. The other thing he noticed was that the teddy bear that he had bought from Anna back in Bulgar was missing. He was sure he had it with him the last time he checked. In a rushed panic, Michael patted down all of his possible hiding spots for the bear without any results.

"Where could it be?" Michael asked himself as he went and checked under the bed he had stayed in at the infirmary. He had not touched anything last he checked. Actually, now that Michael though about it, he hadn't been carrying the bear on his person since the day after he purchased it. Kent!

He must have given Kent the bear for safe keeping in one of his horse's pouches. With that thought in his mind, Michael went racing off to find Kent, stopping anyone he found on the way to ask if they had seen him.

"Michael!" Sain called out from the end of a corridor as Michael rushed along, "Where are you running to at this hour?"

"Sain!" Michael said as if he knew all the answers to Michael's problems, "Do you know where Kent is?"

"Why do you ask?" Sain asked him back.

Michael rolled his eyes, "Please, if it wasn't for the fact that you at least try to hit on every girl you see, I would have thought you and Kent were a married couple."

"Ha!" Sain laughed, "You have us there! He's in the stables. He's been meaning to give his horse some TLC."

"Stables?" Michael repeated, "Strangely convenient!"

With renewed vigor, Michael ran towards the stables. Except there was one small problem that reared its ugly head.

Michael didn't know where the stables were.

"Michael!" Wil screamed as he ducked behind Michael's back.

"Can I help you?" Michael asked him.

"Just stay quiet and say 'no' when he asks!" Wil told him as he shut up.

"WIL!" Wallace roared as he came bounding towards them. He had a glint in his eye as if he was enjoying this turn of events.

"Michael!" Wallace yelled.

"Wallace!" Michael yelled back.

"Have you seen Wil anywhere?" Wallace asked for once in a civil tone as he scanned the area.

"No, can't say I have" Michael lied.

"That little punk got fast quick!" Wallace praised, "That's what happens when you adhere to my Manuel of Knightly Prowess!" With a large step, Wallace sped along as he shouted Wil's name on the top of his lungs. Hopefully those glass windows don't cost much to replace.

"Thanks…" Wil sighed as he popped up from behind Michael.

"No problem," Michael assured him as looked around, "You wouldn't happen to know where the stables are, would you?"

"Down that hall I just came from, take a left at the second door, and then walk straight for two corridors. The doors are wide and always open. You can't miss them."

"Thanks!"

Following Wil's instructions, Michael somehow found his way to the stables. Sure enough, they were stables. Stables with horses. Except for one. One that had a familiar looking Pegasus housed in it.

"Huey!" Michael called out as he made his way over to his favorite winged horse, making sure to not approach too fast to spook her.

Huey neighed in glee as she nuzzled his free hand that he extended to her. Kent may not be here, but at least he met some company.

"She's missed you" A soft voice from behind that could only belong to Florina told him.

"Hello to you too, Florina" Michael said as he turned his head in her direction.

"Is today the day? "Florina asked.

"Yeah" Michael replied sadly with a nod.

"We'll meet again someday," Florina told him with conviction, "My women's intuition tells me so."

Michael chuckled a little, "And what else does your intuition say?"

"You're looking for Kent" Florina guessed correctly.

"Okay," Michael admitted, "Maybe your women's intuition isn't so funny anymore."

"He left a while ago on his horse. He said she was getting a bit stir crazy."

"Do you know when he'll be back?"

"Depends. He left an hour ago. He might be back soon."

"Thank."

"No problem."

As Michael left to go out to the trail leading from the stables, he couldn't help but mention something he had noticed, "Your fear of men is gone, isn't it?"

"Not completely," Florina told him, "It's only around people I know and trust that I can speak like this…"

"It's still a lot better than where you started from. I'm proud of you, Florina."

"Thanks" Florina said to Huey as Michael left the room, her faint smile from being praised reflecting in Huey's eyes.

When the Legion had invaded Caelin several weeks ago, Michael never had time to stop and think about how large the city and surrounding area was. But now that he could, he could only think _'Wow, this place is big!'_ Of course, being a stable, one would expect such space to house and accommodate as many horses as Caelin possessed. To say the same of the space provided for the pasture would be an understatement. Why is it that Michael always thought such things when he was alone? It was a bad habit that he should probably break. Probably.

"Is there any reason you're out on the pasture without a horse?"

"Ah!" Michael yelped in shock as he shot his neck in direction of the voice.

"Sorry, did I scare you?" Kent asked as he dismounted from his horse.

"Don't mind that little scare," Michael told him, "I was just…surprised is all."

"Very well," Kent agreed, giving him the benefit of a doubt, "What are you doing here, again?"

"I have a question; did I ever give you a teddy bear to keep safe? I kind of need it" Michael explained.

"Teddy bear…" Kent mumbled, "Oh! I threw it out! My horse somehow got into the pouch and started chewing on it."

"WHAT?!"

"Only joking!" Kent revealed to Michael with a laugh, "I left it in the same pouch it's been in since the day you gave it to me for safe keeping. Just give me one moment…"

Searching through his pouches, Kent pulled out a small teddy bear, in as pristine a condition as the day Michael bought it months ago.

"Thank you, Kent!" Michael sighed as he took the bear in his hands.

"That's a gift for Lady Lyndis, is it not?" Kent inquired.

"Yeah," Michael confirmed, "I'm leaving today, so I don't want to leave any loose ends."

Kent nodded in understanding, "If I don't happen to meet you before you set out, it has been both a pleasure and an honor to have traveled, fought and known you. The castle will be a slightly drabber place without your presence."

"Kent!" Michael said, "Be careful what you say, you might make Sain jealous!"

"Is this another joke about our closeness?" Kent asked, "Collin has already been taking shots since we were all squires."

"In that case, I won't add more fuel to the fire. But thanks. I'll miss you too."

Kent nodded as Michael spoke, "Just to save you some time; Lady Lyndis is on the northern hill. I believe she is enjoying the breeze."

"Thanks!" Michael told him as he went off once again, this time the northern hills his destination.

Michael could see why Lyn would come to these hills. They were quite a way's off from the castle and it wasn't that much of a climb. The wind seemed to be drawn to this area, as a breeze was constantly coming through. But above all else, the view of the city and the nearby mountains made this view breathtaking. It almost reminded Michael of the Sacae Plains.

"Enjoying the breeze?" Michael called out to Lyn as he got to the top of the hill. Lyn was already sitting down with her eyes closed, drinking in all the breeze had to offer.

"Michael!" Lyn jumped in shock, "You scared me!"

"Sorry" Michael apologized.

"Come on," Lyn ushered to him as she patted the grass next to her, "Sit down and enjoy the breeze with me."

"Can't," Michael explained as he kept his hands behind his back, playing with the teddy bear in his hands, "I have to start leaving soon."

"Ah," Lyn sighed sadly as she sat up, "You're leaving with Anna today."

Michael nodded, "I just stopped by to say goodbye for now…and give you this" Michael brought forth the teddy bear from behind his back.

"This is adorable!" Lyn gushed as she took the little bear gently in her hands, "Where did you find the time to get this?"

"In Bulgar," Michael told her, "Back at Anna's shop. You remember when we were teasing each other? Anna originally sold me on it as a way to catch you off-guard."

"Originally?" Lyn asked, "Did your reason change?"

"Yeah," Michael admitted with a nod, "Now it's a thank you present."

"For what?" Lyn asked as she looked him in the eyes.

"I've said it before: you saved me. Saved me from myself. Honestly, if you somehow found yourself in Hell, I'd find a way to go and save you. Failing that? I'd stay with you."

"I think you're laying it on a bit too thick," Lyn suggested, "You're starting to sound like Sain."

Michael let out a huge laugh before returning to his serious tone, "It's the truth."

"Well, it's sweet all the same," Lyn admitted, "But you better expect to keep your word if something ever does happen!"

"I swear on my life!" Michael promised her as he put his hand over his heart. "But there's also one other thing I want to give you…" Michael began to rummage in his cloak.

"More present?" Lyn asked in mock surprise, "Michael, you're spoiling me!"

Michael pulled out his family locket, "I want you to keep a hold of this for me."

"Michael!" Lyn said in shock, "I can't take this!"

"You're not taking it, only borrowing," Michael clarified, "It's just…whatever was left of Mark officially died during the battle for Caelin. Now, Michael is ready to truly live. But...this locket has many painful memories for Mark. You could say it was my heart. As long as it is still tainted by those memories, Michael can never be himself…and Mark will never pass on. So, I need someone pure of heart to cleanse it for me. The only person that can do that is you."

"But…I just can't…" Lyn babbled.

"Please, Lyn," Michael begged her, "I need to rediscover myself. You're the only one I can trust with this. It has to be you."

"…Okay…" Lyn said, "But only if you take something of mine in return!"

"Like what?" Michael asked curiously.

"My earing!" Lyn suggested as she took of her left earing and handed it to Michael.

"Alright," Michael sighed as he caved in to her demand, "Now turn around so I can put this on."

Lyn turned her toward Michael as she lifted up her hair. Carefully, Michael tied his locket around Lyn's neck, her skin shivering as the cold metal made contact. Once he was done, he took a step back as Lyn let her hair fall back down.

Both of them stood still, looking into each other's eyes, trying to find something that neither thought they could find. Eventually, Michael broke the deafening silence.

"Well…I think I should get going now, don't want to keep Anna waiting…" Michael nervously scratched the back of his head.

"Yeah…" Lyn replied sadly, "Have a good journey."

"I'll be sure to write to you all once I get back to Bulgar" Michael promised.

"You'd better!" Lyn commanded him, "I'll be expecting the first letter before winter!"

"Count in it!" Michael promised, "Well, goodb-"

"No goodbyes," Lyn told him as she pressed a finger against his lips, "We'll see each other again."

"Yeah" Michael agreed with a sigh.

With great reluctance, Michael began to walk away. He didn't look back. If he did, he would never be able to leave. But he needed to do this. Not just to repay the debt he owed, but to live life anew. He would be back one day, he swore to himself he would. He would return, no matter what life threw his way. Even if he had to cross a bloody battlefield to do it.

**Character Endings**

**Kent- Knight of Lycia**

Kent is named Knight Commander of Caelin. It is a high honor for one so young, but no one denies his worth. Though he still cannot curb the habits of his fellow knight, Sain. He and Collin meet once a week to drown the headaches in alcohol.

**Sain - Knight of Lycia**

Sain has earned the honor of being named sub-commander of the Caelin Knights. Despite his promotion, he stills scoffs at authority and woos the village girls. He is much loved by the citizenry. He causes Kent no end of frustration. Though he does help his friend when the pressures of commanding become overbearing.

**Florina – Pegasus Run Expert**

When asked if she would like to become a knight for Caelin, Florina jumped at the chance. More time spent with people she knew was better than traveling again. Though her flying skills did improve, she did find herself on the wrong end of a beehive more than once. Her fear has since become a full blown phobia.

**Wil - Archer of Pherae**

With his cheery outlook and his happy-go-lucky demeanor, Wil has quickly becomes dear to Marquess Caelin's household. Kent is teaching him manners befitting a sworn man of Castle Caelin. He still prefers a handshake over a bow. Meanwhile, Wallace is trying to train him into a knight. Wil has become very proficient in hiding himself.

**Dorcas - Fighter of Bern**

Once Lyn's true heritage is recognized in Caelin, Dorcas returns to his home in Bern. There he cares for his wife and makes a good living as a mercenary, fighting the local bandits. He often times amuses the local villagers of tales from his journey. He never brought up the 'debt' that the Tactician so often spoken of in his stories owed him.

**Serra - Cleric of Ostia**

Erk succeeds in seeing Serra safely to Ostia. While her behavior was irritating at best, he would never admit that she would be missed. She has taken to studying offensive magic in hopes of growing stronger. The clergy of Ostia are still puzzled by her sudden drive to improve herself.

**Erk - The Wandering Mage**

With his contract with Serra complete, Erk returns to Etruria. Once he arrives, he celebrates with much rejoicing and alcohol. His time as a mercenary is just part of his training, and he is glad to see it end. He has since returned to his mentor. He has since developed a fierce loathing for armored knights.

**Rath - The Sacaean Nomad **

In the aftermath of the battle of Caelin, Rath slips away unseen. Whether he has returned to Sacae or has continued to work as a mercenary, no one knows. But would it kill him to say goodbye? Or write?

**Matthew - The Enigmatic Thief**

Matthew vanishes after the final battle and his whereabouts remain a mystery. But rumors abound that he resurfaced as a spy for a certain blue-haired noble in Ostia.

**Nils and Ninian - The Mysterious Siblings**

Nils and his sister, Ninian, disappear soon after the battle of Caelin reaches its conclusion. The sibling were last seen traveling the open road. Nil may well be traveling the land mastering his musical skills somewhere. Though his sister remains as firm a critic of his skills as ever.

**Lucius - The Traveling Monk**

Lucius studies in Caelin for a time, but he departs after receiving summons to another land. Along the way, he was mistaken as a woman and proposed to by many men. They were heartbroken to discover his true gender. He has since been seen traveling with a hard-eyed mercenary.

**Wallace – The Indomitable **

With his sense for battle renewed, Wallace remains in Caelin for some time to train the soldiers up to snuff. Once that objective is completed, he wanders off. Perhaps he seeks to satisfy his battle lust elsewhere?

**Lyndis – Noblewoman of Sacae**

With her new life as a noble, Lyn has many things to become accustomed to. Oftentimes she would sneak out and enjoy the breeze of the northern hill. She could always be seen with a silver locket around her neck. If ever someone asked about it, she would say it was the keepsake of someone dear to her.

**Michael – The Master Tactician **

Michael followed the merchant Anna back to Bulgar. There, he spent much time working off the debt he incurred. While there, he somehow found the time to improve upon his tactical skills. He has since been nicknamed Grandmaster.


	26. Interlude 10: A New Journey

Interlude 10: A New Journey

**Author's Notes: **Well, here starts the beginning of Eliwood/Hector's story. Got some things planned. Some people that will die. OH WAIT! SPOILERS! But yeah, some people are going to die by the end of this fic. Just thought I should let you guys know now.

In other news, one of my friends that I introduced to Fire Emblem with Awakening last year started playing Rekka No Ken earlier this year. I asked him who he thought we would be in terms of characters. He said he would be Kent (We have another friend that we also convinced to get the game) , while our other friend is Sain. Guess who he said I was...Lyn. Yeah. I started laughing when he said this because the fic immediately came to mind.

Also, I have ideas/stories for things that could have happened during the time skip for the year before this arc begins. Would any of you be interested in reading any of those stories? If so, I would make it a side fic. It would be mostly humor though. Then again, humor was basically the bulk of this fic in the beginning. Tell me what you guys think!

* * *

_Dear Michael,_

_None of us can believe the news! Did you really clear your debt with Anna after only nine months? That's incredible! Leave it to you to do the impossible. Everyone here still misses you. In fact, Wil and Sain have been begging me to write to you telling you to visit Caelin as soon as you can. Don't listen to them; take your time and travel around some more. I know you still want to see more of the world. Though, if you are in the neighborhood, could you stop by for a visit? My Grandfather wants to meet you as well, in all honesty. I think I may have made you out to be a little too amazing for you own good… There's also a bookshop I found that has a lot of rare and old texts on strategy that I just know you would love to browse at! I also finally got people to stop asking me about your locket whenever they see it. You don't know how tiring it is to explain it belongs to the person who helped kill Lundgren without people looking at me like I'm crazy! How hard is that to believe?! By the way, do you still have the earing I gave you? You'd better, or you'll be sorry!_

_With love,_

_Lyn; your peerless warrior_

Michael couldn't help but snicker as he read Lyn's letter for what must have been the twentieth time this week. He had received the letter two months ago and he still got a little kick out of reading it.

"Nine months since the Legion broke up and she STILL keeps reminding me of that…" Michael laughed, "It's like a marriage vow to her…" Michael stopped laughed once he said that.

Michael had been lying down on his bed in his makeshift room Anna had lent him during his servitude. There wasn't much room for any of his belongings because the room was originally used for storage of extra wares. Piles of supplies and trinkets were stored all over the room. Not that it mattered to Michael though. He barely had any possessions to speak of. Plus, he had started renting the room from Anna after his debt had been repaid. He had spent the last two months saving up for his travels. He'd be leaving tomorrow and he had saved up a nice nest egg.

"Knock, knock!" A familiar voice sang as she knocked on Michael's door.

"It's open!" Michael told her as Anna opened the door and walked in.

"Come on," Anna ordered him, "We're going out for lunch."

"Again?" Michael asked quizzically, "You're going to make Jake jealous with how much you're spoiling me!"

"Please," Anna responded, "He knows he has nothing to fear. You don't have the guts to hit on a woman. Whether she's taken or not is irrelevant."

"I've hit on people before!" Michael told him as he tried to puff up his chest.

"Teasing doesn't count as flirting," Anna reminded him, "And it doesn't count when they're asleep either. Come on, we going."

Michael jumped off from his bed and obediently followed Anna as they traversed through Bulgar's sea of citizens and shoppers. As they passed down one of the more bustling streets, Anna made a beeline for one for the largest restaurant in all of Bulgar; Akaneia.

"Anna!" Michael exclaimed as his mouth fell open, "You can't be serious!"

"What are you talking about?" Anna asked him as she pretended to not know why he was upset, "I hear they have good food."

"And I heard they're the most expensive restaurant in the entire city!" Michael responded, "And that they have been around for ten years!"

"I want to try their specialty liver and eel pie!" Anna defended herself, "And if treating you to a last good meal before you set off for your travels just so happens to coincide with me having pie… well then all the better."

"I can't expect you doing something so extravagant" Michael told her, "This'll cost you at least an hour's worth of sales…on a good day!"

"Will you just shut up and walk in already?!" Anna asked impatiently, "If I want to treat somebody, I'll damn well treat them, whether they want me to or not doesn't matter!"

With that, Anna had the final word. Not that Michael didn't try to continue to dissuade her, but Anna simply grabbed him by his collar and hauled him into the restaurant. The food was delicious. Delicious enough for Michael to stop protesting the moment the first bite hit his tongue. If this food was anywhere near the taste of food that nobles ate, Michael wished he was one…well, maybe for a day.

"Ssssoooooo…" Anna said with a smug smile as she saw Michael's expression after they left the restaurant, "You still complaining now?"

"Ok," Michael relented, "You were right…Can we go back for more?"

"Tempting," Anna admitted, "But no. Don't you want to leave early tomorrow? You'd have to turn in early then."

"Yeah," Michael said after a brief pause, "I have to admit, I'll miss this place."

Anna slapped Michael over the head, "Come on! Don't go getting sad on me now! We both know you can always come back whenever you want!"

"I know!" Michael assured her as he rubbed the spot on his head that Anna smacked, "But I did have a lot of fun here. This is the first place I've put down roots in for a long time."

"Well if you feel that way, you should just tell your friend you're going to live here and tell her to visit" Anna suggested, knowing Michael's answer.

"Are you kidding?" Michael laughed, "That would never happen! She's probably still helping her Grandfather recover from being poisoned!"

"Then stop moping," Anna told him plainly, "You miss them don't you? You want to travel some more, right? Then don't complain and just go explore the world!"

"You know what? You're right."

"Of course I am. How else am I such a successful merchant?" Anna asked rhetorically.

With that, the two bickered and joked for the rest of the evening. It wasn't until later that Michael went to bed, but he didn't mind starting off on his journey later than he had planned. He had gotten to know and become closer to Anna over the course of the eleven months that he had worked for her. There had even been some wacky and fun adventures that made the time he had memorable and exciting, but those were stories for another day. But as Michael woke up and packed his things the next morning, there were two things he found on the foot of his bed.

One, was the fire tome he had been practicing with during his free time. He wasn't very good with magic yet, but he was getting the hang of it. The tome was still as bright red and crisp as the day he bought it. Though, considering that he never used it more than a handful of times, he would expect no less. The other thing was a small bag with a note over it. The note simply said: In case of emergencies. Michael carefully opened the bag and was amazed to see what he found. Not only did he find three elixirs, but Michael also found four master seals. But not the one used to beat Lundgren, but the new types that Anna had been trying to perfect. These were still in the experimental stages and thus only Anna and Michael knew of their existence. They were still ironing out all the kinks in them. They were safe to use but could only have effect for ten minutes. But in those ten minutes…

"Anna," Michael breathed as he closed the bag, "What do you think I'm going to be getting into?"

With a shudder at the thought of whatever he could possibly need them for, Michael dropped the small bag into the larger one over his shoulder and left his home of eleven months. Anna was gone, already at her kiosk. Michael thought it was better this way. Neither of them were good with goodbyes. He had come to see her like a sister. He didn't want the last time she would see him in a while to be an image of him bawling his eyes out as he left.

Closing the door behind him, Michael began to assimilate with the flow of people shopping and traveling as he made his way for the city exit. Along the way, Michael stopped at a small store and picked up a new cloak. His old one had been discarded almost a year ago and he didn't feel complete without one. He chose a simple one; dark green in color that covered his upper body. He had bought it mostly out of nostalgia. The color reminded him of a woman that he missed dearly. He wondered to himself if they would meet soon. Royal life did have its moments of business after all.

But as Michael handed the shop owner the gold for the cloak and exited the shop, he heard two women gossiping by a stall, just over earshot.

"Did you hear?" One asked.

"About the marquess of Pherae? The other asked.

"Yes!" The first one spoke, "He's gone for some gathering of sorts. Apparently many other rulers are discussing serious matters."

"Oh, this doesn't give me a good feeling…" The other moaned.

Michael's eyebrow raised as he listened in. Pherae? Wasn't that the land Eliwood hailed from? Interesting. Michael would be sure to keep his ears open for any other pieces of information regarding the marquess. At the very least, this would give him something to use to break the ice with local barmen as he traveled around.


	27. Chapter 11A: Another Journey

Chapter 11A: Taking Leave on Another Journey

**Author's Notes: **Wow! This chapter took me wwwaaayyyy too long to write. I have been working on this since last Thursday! I haven't been able to write much since my school schedule is now in full affect. To be honest, this is only half of the chapter. The other part being Eliwood's first chapter. I'll get around to that sometime this weekend. But considering how long this part took (just over 7000 words) it'll prove better to split it up anyway. Well, hope you guys enjoy the new chapter! Was kinda fun to write one without all the usual characters...

* * *

One month ago, a noble, the marquess of Pherae, Lord Elbert, left on a journey of great import. However, no word has been heard about his condition since he left. His son, Eliwood, grows worried about his father's safety. Rumors float abound telling that the marquess met his death, but Eliwood remains optimistic. With not even a handful of knights, he makes his way to find his father. Elsewhere, in Ostia, the marquess, Lord Uther, turns a deaf ear on the matter. However, his younger brother, Hector, an oddity among the nobility, worries for Elbert as well as Eliwood. The two have been bosom companion and friends since they were children. With Eliwood's conviction and Hector's strength, they can brave any hardship. However, the adversaries that they shall meet will push their bonds to their very limits. A war for all of humanity shall soon begin. They are but two of the many players that shall take their place upon the game board of Fate.

With a mighty push, he opened the doors to the throne room. In a brisk but controlled pace, he walked into the room. The throne room was supported on both sides by tall columns of stone that were adorned in a deep blue. Dozens of windows decorated the room with light from the sun every few feet. His shoes echoed in the room as the sounds of him walking filled the mostly empty air.

"Brother!" The young man called out into the room, "Brother, are you here!?" The silence that followed his outburst gave him his answer. "Where in the blazes did you get off to?!" The young man wondered aloud.

The young man in question was Hector. He was tall and built like an ox. He had short, neatly trimmed, deep blue hair that was moussed back. His eyes, blue just like his hair, held a great gleam of confidence and honor. He wore a long blue shirt that covered his entire upper body and long brown pants went down to his ankles. Over his shirt was a broad dark blue breastplate armor with gold edging and long shoulder guards that went down to his hands and melded into his arm guards, large hip guards, and knee guards that went down to his ankles, all of which had shared the same color scheme. He had a long, majestic red cape tied around his neck that flowed in the breeze he created as he moved. At his side was an axe, his trusty Wolf Beil, old, but well cared for, the worn-out grip on its handle and the gleam on the metal proved as much.

"Lord Hector!" A man called out as he ran in after Hector, "Please, calm yourself!"

The man behind him was one of Ostia's knights. He had green eyes that always scrunched together to form a permanent scowl on his face. His wavy hair, green like his eyes, was cut short at his neck. He wore a purple and black tunic and black pants that was obscured by his armor. The dull orange armor he wore was thick and bulky. The many intricate sections of the armor rubbed against each other whenever he moved, emitting a small sound of steel sliding against steel that creaked. On his back rested a single steel lance, the head pointing down towards the ground. Aside from his face, everything was protected by his armor, even parts of his body as minute as his feet and fingers.

"Save your breath, Oswin!" Hector told him, "Just keep out of my way!"

Hector may have well went on saying more, but a man came striding in from the other side of the room as he heard the commotion Hector was causing.

"Hector, that enough!" The man commanded, "What are you yapping about?"

The man could have very well as passed for Hector's father. His hair, while longer than Hector's, going down past his neck, was the same shade of blue as his, but he also had a small goatee growing from his neck. His eyes, also blue, held the same kind of strength as Hector's, though his showed more weariness from the trials and tests that life threw in one's way. He had two scars that marred his face; one went across his forehead from his left to just over his right eye. The other went directly across both of his cheeks. They added to his already intimidating presence. Much like Hector, he also wore a breastplate, but his was a dark and muddy green to Hector's blue with gold edging. The cape he wore over his plate was a deep purple; a symbol of his noble origins.

"You know full well what I'm yapping about!" Hector told him, "It's about the disappearance of marquess Pherae!"

"We've discussed this time and time again…" The man sighed as he closed his eyes in frustration, "This matter does not concern Ostia. Therefore, I do not under any circumstances have in involve OUR soldiers in another territory's problems."

"Eliwood's father is missing, for goodness sake, Uther!" Hector responded, trying to persuade him for the umpteenth time, "We all but know that Marquess Laus had something to do with it! With our military, we could solve this whole problem in not even a few months!"

"Will you not calm yourself and think clearly?!" Uther responded in a harsh tone, "Declaring war on a sovereign that we have no personal, political or geographical resentment for would be madness! This land cannot deal with the hardships of such a war! You must think of others that will be caught in the crossfire! Even you must know that, correct?"

"Yes, but…" Hector said, his argument and zeal failing fast, "If you could-no. Stay on your throne and let it rot underneath you for all I care! Eliwood needs my help, and by all the power that I can muster, I'll go and help him even if it means going on my own!"

"Lord Hector!" Oswin called out as Hector began to storm away, "Please, remember the tone you must take with the marquess!"

"Leave him be," Uther sighed at Oswin as Hector left the room, "There is no one that can reason with him when he becomes so passionate…"

As Hector stormed out of the room, he made a blind path towards one of the hallways leading away from the throne room and followed it for several minutes before stopping. Quickly surveying the area to make sure no one was present, Hector called out to the shadows of the hallway,

"Matthew! Come on out already!"

As if dividing from the very shadows in the hallway, a lone warrior of the night appeared out of thin air. A young man with spikey dirty blonde hair and almond colored eyes that held a glint of mischief. He was dressed a dark green tunic that was covered by a light armor breastplate. His wore long white pants that hugged his legs that went almost all the way down to his feet which were protected by dark brown leather shoes. Over his entire ensemble was a crimson red cloak that wrapped around his entire body. At his side was a small dagger that's hilt glinted off the soft rays of light coming in through the windows. Inside the sleeves of his tunic were two other knives, one for each hand, in case of an emergency.

"No need to yell so loudly, Milord…" Matthew told Hector, "I'm right here. Just in plain view now."

"Matthew…" Hector began as the shock from Mathew appearing out of nowhere wore off, "Last time I checked, you weren't a ghost. Stop hiding in the damn shadows all the time!"

"Sorry, Milord," Matthew apologized with a small chuckle, "Force of habit. You don't last long in our line of work with−"

"Yes, yes," Hector grumbled as he cut Matthew off, "Shadows in the night, staying hidden in the greatest talent, out of sight out of mind−I GET IT."

"Someone's throwing a tantrum…" Mathew muttered softly enough so Hector couldn't hear.

"Do you have the supplies I asked for?" Hector asked him, not hearing the remark.

"Indeed I do," Matthew told Hector as he pulled out a hand-axe, some vulnerary, and a large sack, "Some of the guards have also been bought with a little coin to turn a blind eye. I trust you wish to leave immediately?"

"I wished to leave yesterday" Hector confirmed.

"Would you like me to lead the way?" Matthew asked.

"No, I can lead myself," Hector spoke, "I trust you'll at least exercise a quiet tongue while I make my exit?"

"You aren't taking me with you?" Matthew asked in confusion.

"You think I'll trust someone under my brother's payroll?" Hector asked rhetorically, "I'd think you'd turn me in as soon as I passed the castle walls!"

"You keep with the yelling and shouting and you'll never get past the castle walls…!" Matthew replied in a harsh whisper, "Can you please lower your voice?"

"Afraid of being caught?" Hector asked back.

"No one ever trusts a spy…" Matthew sighed, "Oh well, it comes with the job after all. I shall take my leave then, Milord" With a bow and a step back into the shadows, Matthew disappeared from the hallway, as if he were never there to begin with.

"Well…" Hector said with a raised eyebrow as Matthew left, "That was…easy. Something tells me I won't be getting rid of him with just that."

Curiously, Hector opened the sack of supplies Matthew had procured for him. In the sack were several changes of clothes, vials full or water, smoked meat, pickled vegetables, extra vulnerary, blankets, two pillows (How could those fit in there?), two lock picks, several door keys, several small pouches full of gold coins, a dagger, a healing staff (Really?), and for whatever reason, a new cape.

"How much did he pack?!" Hector asked aloud in surprise and wonder, "It's like he's a mother packing supplies for her children! Seriously, I know he wanted to go, but this is just overkill!"

As Hector spoke, a chill washed over his spine as goose bumps prickled over his body, sending his hairs to stand up over his arms and neck. Taking a cautious look over his right and left shoulder, Hector stared over to the empty section of the hallway in front of him.

"You may as well stop hiding!" Hector spoke out to the empty hallway as he dropped the sack, "I know you're there!"

As the words left his mouth, a lone assassin appeared from the shadows from the end of the hallway and walked into Hector's sight. A bandanna was obscuring his facial features except for his eyes, which were cold and brown. He didn't speak as he approached.

"What's the matter?" Hector asked him, "Cat got your tongue? Or are you just simply too dumb to speak? I may as well tell you now; either you move out of my way, or I'll MAKE you get out of my way."

The assassin began to draw his lance as Hector spoke, but Hector saw his hand move for his weapon and charged forward. Gripping his hand on Wolf Beil, Hector stretched out his right arm as he closed the distance between him and the assassin. The assassin, taken aback by Hector's sudden attack, fumbled for his weapon, but dropped it out of his hand as Hector towered on top of him, bringing his axe down with extreme prejudice. The axe cleanly ran through the assassin's skull as it caved in on itself. The assassin's body fell to the floor as Hector planted his left foot on his body as he yanked his axe out of the corpse.

As Hector removed his axe, he heard a thud as something fell to the ground in the shadows from where the assassin had emerged from. Seeing a shape emerging from the shadows, Hector didn't take a moment to begin another charge towards the figure. As Hector neared again, the figure fully emerged from the shadows yelled at Hector as it began to wave its hands high above its head in surrender.

"Whoa! Don't hit me!" The figure shouted, "Seriously, I'm on your side! It's me, Matthew!"

"Matthew?!" Hector repeated as he lowered his axe, "What the hell were you doing there?! I thought you were one of them!"

"To answer your questions in order; I was just putting one of the other assassins to the dagger. And me being one of them? Please. There's only one me and I'm on your side. And I also like to not see people coming at me with sharp pointy objects."

Hector looked over Matthew's shoulder towards one of the columns supporting the ceiling and saw a crumpled heap that he could only assume was once a living person.

"Your fault for coming out of the shadows like that," Hector told him, "But why are you still here?"

"I sensed those two men as soon as I entered the place," Matthew explained, "But I didn't want them to find out they had been spotted. Once you told me to leave, I decided to do a little shadowing."

"Obviously they weren't the most exceptional assassins…" Hector added as he once again observed the bodies of the two would-be-assassins.

"What they lack in quality they make up with numbers" Matthew responded.

"What" Hector said in an even tone.

"Yeah," Matthew assured him with a positive tone, "There are some other uninvited guests awaiting us throughout this section of the castle. I think there's around seven or eight of them. Hard to tell with all the stone letting sound travel. When I paid the guards to have a blind eye, I thought they would know that it would only be for you! Should probably have a little chat with them later on…"

"How about we wait until after we've given these men the boot before we start scolding our guardsmen?" Hector asked as tightened the grip on his axe handle.

"Then we shall meet them for glorious battle behind this conveniently located door which I left unlocked!" Matthew told him as he motioned towards a door down the left of the hallway.

"When did you do that?" Hector asked him as he picked up the sack Matthew had given him earlier and pulled out the hand axe.

"Trade secret" Matthew responded as he put a finger over hi lips.

"Let's go bash in some heads!" Hector yelled as he began to walk forward.

"You know what they say," Matthew told Hector as he took position behind him, "Tall and bulky men first!"

As Hector opened the door and began to charge forward, a lone assassin way lying in wait. As soon as he saw the door to his right beginning to open, he drew his lance and ran forward, his lance out, ready to spear whomever walked through the door. With a look of shock as the assassin came into view, Hector tried to backpedal back into the room as the assassin's lance pierced into his thigh. With a grunt of pain, Hector dropped his axe as he clenched his right hand into a fist before punching the assassin with all the strength he could muster. Recoiling from the blow, the assassin let go of his weapon. Taking advantage of the situation, Matthew with his dagger in hand, ran it through the assassin's throat before tearing it open with a smooth slice across his neck.

"Lord Hector!" Matthew yelled in alarm as he ran over and began to pull the lance out from his leg. However, as he began to pull, an archer began to march forward, his bow drawn, after hearing the commotion from the earlier assassin.

"Out of the way!" Hector ordered Matthew with a pained tone as he launched his hand axe at the archer, Matthew barely ducking out of the way from the course of the throw.

The archer was easily able to sidestep the axe since they still had a good distance between the two. With a quick reach to the quiver on his back, the archer pulled out and nocked an arrow, ready to fire at any moment. Sensing the nearing danger, Matthew gripped the body of the dead assassin and picked him up to use as a human shield. Making sure to keep as much of his body shielded as possible, Matthew called out to Hector behind him,

"Go get a vulnerary from the sack! I'll keep this guy busy for a while!"

With a grunt of agreement, Hector tore the lance from his thigh as pain flooded through his wound. Biting down on his lip, Hector crawled his way back towards the sack as Matthew played hide-and-seek behind the remains of the enemy. The first arrow launched by the archer pierced right through the neck of the dead assassin Matthew was holding, which as a consequence almost pierced Matthew's own throat. Thank goodness for heavy cloth!

"Fear my shield of flesh!" Matthew taunted the archer as he nocked another arrow.

"Taunt the enemy…" Hector muttered as he took a swig from a vial of vulnerary, "Nothing bad ever comes from that…!"

As his wound began to knit itself back together, a knight clad in armor began to trudge forward from the passageway leading to one of the other sections leading towards the exit of their current location. An armor knight. He wouldn't be a true threat for a while, but if they weren't done disposing with the knight by the time he got within striking distance, they would be in for quite the punishing experience.

"Armor knight!" Matthew announced, "From my experience, they are NOT good!"

"In that case," Hector told he as he stood up and put his full weight on his now healed leg, "Let me take him on! You get rid of that archer!"

"And how do you propose I do that?!" Matthew asked in frustration as another arrow pierced through his human shield.

"Charge him, you ignoramus!" Hector told him as if it were obvious.

"You're kidding" Matthew responded with a wobbly tone.

"Can't you blend into the shadows?" Hector began to taunt him.

"It's a little more complicated than that!" Matthew rebutted.

Another arrow pierced into the assassin's corpse, making it look more like a pincushion than a body. The armor knight was now halfway towards them. He would be upon them soon if they didn't get rid of the archer.

"Do it or we're going to end up dying here!" Hector yelled.

"Fine!" Matthew yelled back as he dropped the corpse, "But don't blame me if you end up with arrows where the sun don't shine!"

With a quick dive into the shadows of the hallway, Matthew left Hector to fend for himself against the archer, who was doing a marvelous job of keeping his distance. How was this going to work?

Hector did the only thing that came to mind: zigzagging. With all the speed he could muster, Hector did his absolute best to run from side to side in no particular order for as long as he could. The archer couldn't get a good shot in on him because whenever he lined his arrow up, Hector would either duck or dive to the other side. The constant bursts of energy that Hector had to use was incredibly tiring. He would eventually have to switch to a head–on assault if Matthew didn't make his move soon. He needed energy to fight the armor knight who was now close enough to reliably make out how tall he was.

As the frustration at the situation began to cloud Hector's judgment, he reached for the newly-appeared hand axe at his side as he decided to throw it for all he was worth. But as his luck would have it, as the enemy archer was aiming a full-proof shot at his head, Matthew descended upon him for the ceiling,

"GERONIMO!" Matthew yelled as he appeared from the ceiling and dived down upon the unsuspecting archer, plunging his dagger into the archer's left temple as he fell onto his body and made a gigantic heap on the floor.

"About time!" Hector told him as he ran over to Matthew and hoisted him up from the ground.

"Sorry," Matthew told him in a sarcastic tone, "Scaling walls takes a while. One wrong grab and you've got a broken shoulder on your hands."

"Well get up and walk it off!" Hector told him, "We have enemies to deal with!" Taking his hand axe, Hector aimed it at the armor knight and threw it with all the force he could muster.

The axe plunged itself harmlessly in between two plates of the armor just around the knight's left shoulder guard. As soon as he saw the axe hand landed, Hector began to charge the knight, his right arm stretched out once again as he ran at full speed. Stopping from his advance the knight pulled the axe out, throwing it onto the ground as he readied his lance to meet Hector's charge.

Using the hilt of his lance, the armor knight blocked Hector's swing. Both realizing that neither of them were going to be pushed back by the impact of the blows meeting, a test of strength began as both attempted to shove the other of balance in order to attack the other. Matthew looked onto the scene in front of him, not eager to rush in lest his actions result in an even worse situation.

'_Not going to lie,' _Matthew thought to himself, _'I WOULD help…but what would I be able to do?'_

"You know…!" Hector grunted as he tried to push forward on his axe, "You guys should really find something more constructive to do with all your manpower!"

"Were that so simple…!" The knight grunted back in response.

"Oh, you guys can talk!" Hector said in surprise, "And here I thought you were all mute!"

With a deep breath, Hector put all of his weight into his axe as he pushed forward against the knight once again. But still, the knight held his own against him. Deciding to take a risk, Hector jumped with all he had to his left as he shifted his weight from his axe over to his right side to direct the knight's lance as he did. Not anticipating Hector's unusual tactic, the knight let Hector slip through his field of attack. Taking the opportunity that presented itself as the knight lost his balance and began to hop on one foot, Hector gripped the hilt of his axe with both hands and brought it across the knight's back with all the strength he could muster. His axe ripped through the knight's armor like it was wet paper. As the knight stumbled to the ground, he attempted to hoist himself up using his lance for support, but another blow from Hector aiming for his neck brought back onto the ground permanently.

"Enemies dying in puddles of their own blood…" Matthew mused as he viewed the results of the fight, "Reminds me of my time with Lyn's group…"

"Less talking more fighting" Hector told him as he began to walk down the stairway leading down to the next part of the hallway. The sound of footsteps could be heard echoing in the hallway.

"What's that?" Hector asked Matthew as he turned around.

"Footsteps" Matthew responded smartly.

"Thanks Mr. Obvious!" Hector replied with an annoyed tone, "But seriously."

"Your guess is as good as mine" Matthew shrugged.

"Oh well," Hector grunted, "No use standing here asking questions; let's go get rid of the rest of those assassins!"

Breaking into a run, Hector and Matthew quickly made their way down the hallway and turned a right, coming face-to-face with an archer and a lance wielder. As the lance wielder began to charge at their location, the archer supplied him with support fire, leaving the duo to hide behind the columns as best they could as they decided on how to deal with the lance wielder.

"I'd just like to take a moment and say that I hate archers!" Matthew complained as he hid behind another column, "They never stay within reach!"

"Isn't that kind of the point of an archer?" Hector asked honestly.

"It's a jo−never mind" Matthew sighed as he shook his head.

"You should get better jokes!" Hector advised Matthew as he threw his hand axe at the lance wielder.

Swiftly, the lance wielder side-stepped the axe and continued to charge forward, several arrows were volleyed at Hector and Matthew, keeping them pinned behind the column. They would be overwhelmed by the enemy soon if they didn't neutralize his support. But then, out of nowhere, spear of light spawned in the air above their heads and shot towards the lance wielder, taking him off-guard while two of the spears pierced his left leg and right shoulder.

"Magic?!" Hector replied in shock.

"Who?!" Matthew agreed.

"Guess who!" A female voice shrieked in a singsong fashion as the bearer of the voice came running towards them.

Bright pink hair tied into two ponytails held together by two large blue beads danced in the air as she ran. Her wide violet eyes held a glint of confidence as she stopped over behind the column the lordling and spy were using as cover. She wore a bright pink cloak that lightly hugged her arms and a long light purple robe with white edging that draped down past her legs. Over her hands were long dark purple gloves that completely covered everything below her elbows. On her feet were open-toed sandals that quietly scuffed against the floor with every one of her steps. Held on her back was a healing staff while she clutched a light tome to her chest.

"Serra!" Matthew exclaimed.

"The one and only!" Serra beamed at him, "Fancy seeing both of you here!"

"What are you doing?!" Hector asked her.

"Helping save both of your butts!" Serra pointed out with a grin as she pointed towards the assassins.

As they looked on to the scene before them, two more archers and another lance wielder rounded past the last corner and joined with the archer from before, all of them leaving their injured comrade to whatever fate would be in store for him. Pointing a finger at the enemy, Serra began to chant another spell.

"Eat light magic, bozos!" Serra declared as she sent a wave of light spears at the enemy, forcing them to jump out and away from each other in order to avoid taking damage.

"GO!" Hector yelled as he gripped his axe and charged forward, Matthew following close behind, albeit, unwillingly.

Putting as much power behind his hand axe as he could, Hector threw it at one of the archers, smashing into his bow and shattering it into two pieces, splinters of wood scattering into the air. Following up on his throw, Matthew drew his dagger as he sprinted over to the archer. Gripping his axe, Hector ran towards the nearest lance wielder, who had ducked forward when Serra had unleashed her attack. As the enemy began to pick themselves up, Matthew and Hector were already upon their enemies. Matthew quickly slit the archer's throat before retreating back behind a column as Hector sliced an arm off of his opponent, soon being engaged by the other lance wielder as he drew his axe beck to him. Serra sent another wave of light spears out as suppressing fire as she aimed them all for the last archer, who ran back around the corner to avoid confrontation.

The lance wielder swiped at Hector's feet with the side of his lance and sent him toppling down, but not before Hector grabbed onto the straps of his armor and took him down with him, Hector dropped his axe as they hit the marble floor. With both on the floor, Hector punched his adversary with his right fist, his helmet blocking most of the force, but still doing damage. However, the assassin ignored Hector as he continued to punch him and brought a small dagger out from a pouch on his side. Hector saw him take out the dagger, but couldn't react in time as his assailant plunged the dagger deep into his left shoulder. Pain erupted in his arm as he winced in pain. With what may have been a smile of glee through his helmet, the assassin began to dig the dagger deeper into the wound, but in the euphoria of finally giving his target a wound, he forgot that Hector was not by himself. A cold dagger wet with the blood of others stabbed into the side of his throat as a wave of shock went over him before he slumped over to the floor in silence.

"Thanks" Hector grunted at Matthew as he pulled the dagger from his shoulder.

"Don't mention it" Matthew told him as he offered a hand.

With a grin, Hector grabbed Matthew's outstretched hand and was hoisted up, his wound screaming in disapproval as he shifted his weight. However, to neither of the two's attention, the archer that had run for cover earlier had reappeared and was now lining up a shot.

"Watch out you two!" Serra cried out in a warning.

Out of both shock and curiosity, Matthew began to turn his head as the realization on how badly he had let his guard down sunk in. Hector quickly began to tackle Matthew to get him out of the way of the archer, but he was too slow. The arrow that the archer shot pierced Matthew in the ribs. Fortunately, it had missed his heart, which had been the intended target.

"You'll pay for that!" Serra shouted as she sent a rainstorm of light spears at the enemy archer, turning him into a pincushion as he fell to the ground.

"Arrow…in…lung…" Matthew sputtered out, "Not…fun…"

"Hang on," Hector assured him, "We'll get you some help."

"Stay put guys!" Serra told them from across the hallway as she began to run over, "I'll get you two back up and fighting fit in no time!"

With a hearty tug, Hector removed the arrow from Matthew's back with only several grunts of disapproval and pain on Matthew's end. As Serra pulled out her healing staff, she made sure to close the wounds as quickly as possible. The pain in Hector's shoulder vanished as the wound closed up and Matthew began to breathe easier as his wounds healed. With some slight coughing that expelled the blood in his lung, he picked up his fallen dagger and was ready to go back into the fray.

"Been a while since I've been hurt…" Matthew sighed.

"These guys are proving to be quite the handful" Hector agreed.

"Wish Michael was here," Serra pouted as she put her staff back, "We'd be done by now if he were directing us."

"Who?" Hector asked.

"Michael," Serra explained, "He was the tactician for Lyndis's Legion when she saved her grandfather and Caelin! He led us all to victory after victory!"

"Can we save our little crush sessions for after we're done with all of the assassins?" Matthew asked as he looked onwards to the last corner hallway leading to the exit. The last assassin was within reach.

"Come on," Hector ushered the both of them as he walked on, "I have some questions that I'm hoping our 'guest' can answer."

As the three made their way to the exit, a slow clapping could be heard in the air. Immediately, Hector put his hand out to block Serra and Matthew as he raised his axe. A man walked in from the door leading to the exit and faced the three of them.

The man had wavy bright brown hair and a small beard. His brown eyes were squinting at the group, as if he were trying to focus his eyes with the sudden lack of light from the midday sun. His nose was large and long, almost resembling an arrow. He could probably poke someone's eye out with it though. He was completely covered in armor. It looked like a combination of standard knight armor and light armor. It wasn't bulky and impeding, but it didn't possess the superior defensive strength as the heavier armor.

"Quite the performance…" The man said, "If only that little girl hadn't interfered… This show would have been over by now…"

"Who are you?" Hector growled, "You aren't assassins sent by Laus. You're too professional to be with those idiots."

"Ah, but that would be telling!" The man laughed, "So sorry, but I won't be telling you anything. I can't go around ruining the story now, can I? But still…the story will be a good cover up."

"Cover up?" Hector asked, his guard still raised.

"Little Hector departs on a trip with no one knowing where he is going, never to return," The man mused with another chuckle, "With no body to find who can say what happened? It'll be one big mystery that'll never be solved."

"…Looks like any luck you've had is about to run out" Hector told the man flatly.

"My luck?" The man asked, quickly losing his confident demeanor, "What in the blazes do you mean?"

"I'm angry," Hector told the man as if it were obvious, "The angriest I've ever been in fact. You're men couldn't stop me from getting here, with or without help. And now−THERE SURE ISN'T ANYWAY I'M LETTING YOU GET OUT OF HERE SCOTT FREE!"

"Confident brat…!" The man snarled as he drew his silver lance.

The first move belonged to Hector. Without a moment's notice, Hector charged at the assassin. With his right hand extended in the air holding Wolf Beil, Hector met the assassin in a head-on collision. Using the head of his lance, the assassin blocked Hector's initial attack as he began to spin his lance, gaining momentum as Hector's grip on his axe loosened. As Hector began to recoil from the inertia put against him, the assassin attempted to take a sweep at his legs, but Hector saw the attack coming. Jumping over the lance, Hector slammed his feet down on the hilt of the weapon, but as if two steps ahead in the battle, the assassin threw in a punch that met its desired target: Hector's head. Sending him staggering back with a slightly bloody nose, the assassin attempted another leg sweep, which now succeeded in making Hector lose his footing and fall, his axe slipping from his hand and sliding a few inches away. But not to be outdone, Hector quickly kicked his foot upwards as he hit the floor, making the assassin stagger as his weapon fell out of his hand as well as he made a grab for the area suddenly engulfed in pain. Turning over on his stomach, Hector jumped back onto his feet as he scurried to retrieve his trusty axe, his hand axe finally reappearing on his belt after being used against the last enemy. However, his opponent had recovered his weapon as well.

"So the little lordling has some fight in him after all…" The man laughed.

"Here I thought assassins weren't supposed to be good at direct conformation" Hector agreed, "What's your name?"

The man looked at Hector as if he had gone insane as he asked his question, "…Wire. I suppose it is a courtesy to address oneself as you're about to kill a mark. Oh well, I never was one for such clichés, but…"

With a flash, Wire charged at Hector, the head of his lance aiming for Hector's stomach as Hector put his axe out to block the attack. Their weapons met with a loud clang as they both pushed forward against the other. Wire had a devilish grin on his face while Hector had a snarl of barely contained rage. Kicking forward with his left leg, Hector attempted to land the blow on Wire's stomach, but the assassin jumped back just enough to avoid the blow as he took a wild slash at Hector. The lance grazed Hector's face as a long cut appeared along his cheek, a little amount of blood flowing from the wound. Disregarding his cut, Hector grabbed Wire's lance with his left hand and sent a horizontal slash at Wire's chest. The axe ripped through the armor, but it didn't do more than give Wire a light graze. With clenched teeth, Wire punched Hector with his free hand, forcing Hector to let go of his lance as the recoil made his stumble backwards.

Wire subconsciously put his hand over his wound as he brought it back up, a little blood on his palm. Muttering a curse, Wire began to pull out a small bottle out from one of his pouches. However, without a sound, Matthew had made his way over and jumped Wire as soon as he began to reach out for whatever he was going for. As Matthew dived forward, Wire slammed his with the hilt of his lance and sent Matthew flying into a column.

"Matthew!" Serra called out as she ran over to him.

"Heh" Wire laughed as he went back to whatever he was reaching for, but shock ran through him as he realized that the pouch was no longer there.

"Tsk tsk!" Matthew mockingly told Wire as he waged a finger at him, "No fair using items in a one-on-one fight!"

"You−!" Wire began, but before he could finish, a fist crashed into the back of his head, sending him face-first onto the floor.

Quickly turning his head around, wire saw Hector looming over him, his face still sporting a snarl as he tightly gripped his axe as he raised his arm to prepare an attack. Out of desperation, Wire launched both his of feet at Hector as he kicked him back, but Hector only stumbled slightly, Wire not having enough momentum behind his kick to knock him over. From his awkward position, wire attempted to stab Hector with his lance, but the angle proved to be disadvantageous as his attack missed Hector completely. With the lance in arms reach, Hector once again grabbed hold of Wire's weapon, pulling it with all his strength, dragging Wire along with it since he would not let go. Putting his head to good use, Hector smashed his head against Wire's, making both warriors stumble as the force of the blow dazed both of them, Wire pulling his lance free when Hector let go to clutch his head. Deciding distance was needed, Wire began to flee down the hallway. However, Hector shook off his daze as he made a grab for his hand axe. Gripping the hand axe with his left hand and careful aim, Hector threw the axe with all the strength he had. The axe found its target in Wire's back with a satisfying crunch as it broke through his armor.

Stumbling forward, Wire attempted to remove the axe from his back, but the area where it struck him was one he could not reach. Cursing under his breath, Wire began to turn around to face Hector again, but his eyes widened when he saw Hector barreling towards him at full speed. With all the strength he had left, Hector brought his axe crashing into Wire's shoulder and continued to drive it through all the way down to chest. With a loud gasp as he choked on his blood, Wire fell to the ground as he followed the course of the blow. A loud thud echoed through the castle as the battle ended. In victory, Hector walked back towards Matthew and Serra.

"Well," Mathew began, "That's one way to send someone off. But you should start going if you want to leave. The guards won't be turning a blind eye to all the noise that was made for much longer."

"…You're both coming with me" Hector decided.

"Come again?" Serra asked, completely confused as she looked back from Matthew to Hector.

"Matthew will explain on the way" Hector assured her as he began to walk towards the door.

"Wait!" Matthew begged as he began to run in place, "At least let me go back and pick up the sack I prepared for the trip!"

"Milord!" A soldier announced as he ran into the Ostia throne room, "Lord Hector has disappeared!"

"Now?" Uther asked, "And you are…?"

"We are preparing troops to give chase!" The soldier informed Uther as he saluted.

"Do not bother," Uther advised the soldier, "He'll be long gone by the time you are fully mobilized."

As the soldier saluted once again before he left, Oswin spoke up, "Then we shall just let him run freely, milord?" he asked Uther.

Uther nodded, "That headstrong fool will get himself−" Uther's train of thought was stopped as a fit of loud coughing overtook him.

"Milord!" Oswin said in worry, "You are unwell! Please, sire, I know that the past few weeks have been terribly stressing for you and that we are currently in a precarious place, but please, don't disregard your health!"

"What's this?" Uther asked, "Last time I checked, I was the one giving orders. Now a knight is ordering around a marquess. Hahahahaha!"

"This is no laughing matter!" Oswin said in the most polite tone he could muster.

"I know," Uther assured him, "…But that kind of mindset will be useful to him. Oswin! From this moment further you are ordered to keep a reign on my bother! Make his safety your top priority!"

"Of course, milord!" Oswin bowed, "I shall protect him with my very life. He won't be able to evade me for long!"

As soon as Oswin finished, he departed for the heavy task of finding and keeping Hector safe from harm. Alone, Uther folded his hands together as he leaned deeply in his seat. This whole situation was quickly getting out of hand. But without any answers to the questions he had, there could be no way Ostia would be able to move without leaving itself vulnerable to power-hungry countries.

"Be safe, Hector."


End file.
